BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The 20th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team built a 7-1 first-quarter lead and was never challenged in producing an 18-11 victory over Bridgewater on Wednesday evening at Jopson Field.
 
The Generals (9-5, 7-0) forced 29 Bridgewater turnovers, including nine in the first period, in pushing out to the early advantage.  W&L's ride produced a fair amount of the turnovers, as the Eagles (10-6, 5-4) managed to make good on just 15 of 25 clearing opportunities.
 
BC opened the scoring at the 12:13 mark of the first quarter when senior midfielder Sam Homick scored off an assist from senior attackman Connor McLean. 
 
W&L retaliated at the 9:44 mark when senior attackman Taylor Witherell (Wilmington, Del. / Salesianum) fed sophomore attackman Alex Brown (Norwalk, Conn. / Taft School) for the tying goal.  The Generals tacked on another goal just 20 seconds later when senior midfielder Tommy MacCowatt (New Vernon, N.J. / Delbarton) scored off an assist from senior midfielder Teddy Bentley (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. / Cold Spring Harbor).
 
Brown scored his second goal of the game just 38 seconds after the MacCowatt goal, with MacCowatt responsible for the assist.  Witherell then fed senior midfielder Fenner Pollock (Nashville, Tenn. / Montgomery Bell Academy) for another score at the 6:35 mark and W&L tacked on three more goals, including another by Witherell, to push out to the 7-1 lead with 1:26 left in the opening quarter.
 
Homick scored his second goal of the first quarter with 1:19 left, but W&L scored six of the first eight goals of the second quarter to assume a 13-4 lead with 1:30 left in the first half.  The Eagles then scored twice in the final 48 seconds to make it a 13-6 game at the break.
 
The Blue & White kept the pressure on through the third quarter, out-scoring the Eagles 4-1 to post a 17-7 lead in coasting its fifth straight victory.
 
W&L out-shot the Eagles, 54-36, and the Generals held a 47-39 advantage in ground balls.  Bridgewater won 19 of the 33 faceoffs in the contest.
 
Witherell led the W&L offensive attack with four goals and five assists for a career-high nine points.  MacCowatt compiled two goals and two assists, while Pollock and sophomore attackman Michael Ott (Savannah, Ga. / St. John's Prep) contributed two goals and one assist each.  Brown chipped in two goals as well.  Senior defenseman Michael Horgan (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic) caused three turnovers and had one assist, and senior goalkeeper Nick Spagnoletti (Madison, N.J. / Madison) played a majority of the game in goal, recording 10 saves to earn the win.
 
Bridgewater was led by McLean's two goals and three assists.  Homick added three goals and sophomore attackman Colby Smith chipped in two scores.  Senior Robbie Noyes played the duration in goal, nothing 13 saves.
 
Washington and Lee returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Guilford for a 1:00 pm contest.