LEXINGTON, Va. – The 20th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team won its eighth straight game, scoring 18 goals or more for the sixth straight contest, posting a 25-5 win over Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at Wilson Field.
 
The Generals (12-5, 10-0) came out of the gates strong, scoring three times in the initial 1:31 of the game.  Senior midfielder Tommy MacCowatt (New Vernon, N.J. / Delbarton) scored unassisted at the 13:59 mark and then sophomore attackman Alex Brown (Norwalk, Conn. / Taft School) followed with an unassisted goal of his own just 14 seconds later.  Junior midfielder Matt Gallagher (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass) won the ensuing faceoff and fed junior long-stick midfielder Alex Kelly (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury Regional), who passed right back to Gallagher for another goal at 13:29.
 
W&L kept the pressure on the Marlins (5-11, 2-8), scoring six more unanswered goals to push out to a 9-0 lead with 9:09 left in the second quarter.  Junior attackman Hudson Pokorny (Darien, Conn. / Darien) scored twice during the stretch, while senior attackman Taylor Witherell (Wilmington, Del. / Salesianum) added one goal and one assist.
 
Virginia Wesleyan temporarily stopped the bleeding with a goal by junior midfielder Mark Sprague at the 7:41 mark, but the Blue & White scored two more tallies for an 11-1 lead at the half.
 
The Generals tacked on seven more goals in the third period and seven more in the fourth to cruise to the win.
 
Washington and Lee finished with 68 shots as opposed to 27 for the Marlins.  W&L won the ground ball battle, 31-24, and the Generals won 25-of-34 faceoffs.  The game was sloppy both ways, with the two teams combining for 64 turnovers (34 for VWU).
 
Witherell led the Generals with five goals and three assists, climbing to 10th on the W&L all-time scoring list with 167 points.  His 119 goals also rank sixth all-time.
 
Brown totaled three goals, while MacCowatt notched two goals and two assists.  Pokorny registered two goals and one assist, while senior midfielders Fenner Pollock (Nashville, Tenn. / Montgomery Bell Academy) and Braden Rhone (Dallas, Texas / Episcopal) recorded two goals each.  Gallagher won 10-of-13 faceoffs and chipped in one goal and one assist.  Senior Nick Spagnoletti (Madison, N.J. / Madison) played the first 47:43 in goal and booked 11 saves with just two goals allowed to earn the win.  Junior Warren Seeds (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) played the final 12:17, making one save.
 
Sprague and senior attackman Chris Lindemeyer each scored twice to lead the Marlins offense.  Graduate attackman Joey Rayman added one goal and two helpers.  Sophomore Josh Van Zuylen made 14 saves while playing 50:30 in goal.  He was spelled by sophomore Allen Shaw, who made three stops in the final 9:30.
 
Washington and Lee has now completed the regular season.  The Generals will be the top seed for the ODAC Tournament and will host the semifinal and championship games at Wilson Field next weekend.  The semifinal games will be on Friday and the championship will be on Saturday.  Game opponents and times are to be announced.