LEXINGTON, Va. – The third-ranked Washington and Lee men's soccer team fell in its season opener by a 4-1 score against fifth-ranked Messiah on Thursday evening.
The Falcons (1-0) opened the scoring in the 11th minute on a goal from senior forward Matt McDonald. Six and a half minutes later, fifth-year midfielder Luke Brautigam found senior forward Ben Lefever for the team's second goal. In the 31st minute, the Falcons added their third goal of the game when fifth-year midfielder Luke Groothoff fed first-year forward Patrick Lee.
Just 60 seconds into the second half, McDonald added his second goal of the game on a shot from just outside the 18-yard box and into the bottom-right corner of the frame.
The Generals' goal came in the 74th minute when senior midfielder
Samuel Bass (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) passed to senior forward
Patrick Rooney (Littleton, Colo./Mullen) just inside the 18. Rooney lost control of the ball momentarily, but then stuck his foot out to flick the ball on to first-year midfielder
Matteo Adler (Cobham, England/ACS Cobham International) around the penalty spot. Adler finished with a left-footed boot into the bottom-right corner.
Five different Generals took one shot each to tally the team's five shots in the game. Adler owned the team's only shot on goal in the contest. Senior goalkeeper
Rye McMillen (Fairfax, Va./The Heights School) (0-1) played all 90 minutes and stopped four shots.
McDonald led the way for the Falcons' offense with his two goals, and he also took three shots. Senior defender Grant Johnson joined Groothoff and Brautigam in the assist column, helping on McDonald's first score. Five Falcons tallied multiple shots in the game, led by McDonald's three.
In goal, fifth-year Jared Pavlovich (1-0) played the duration of the game, but did not record a save.
Shots favored Messiah by a 15-5 margin, including 8-2 in the first half. The Falcons also took eight corner kicks in the game and conceded none.
The Generals will return to the pitch on Sunday when they travel to Maryville (Tenn.) for a 1:00 pm road contest.
