LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The Washington and Lee women's soccer team extended its unbeaten start to the season to five games with a 3-1 win at Covenant on Saturday afternoon.
W&L improves to 3-0-2 overall this season with the win, and it marks the fourth straight campaign that the team has not lost within its first five games. With the loss, the Scots fall to 2-3-1 overall.
The Generals took a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute on a free kick. Senior defender
Brenna Wehner (Crosswicks, N.J. / The Hun School of Princeton) took the free kick on the right side and crossed into the six-yard box on the left side, where first-year midfielder
Sophie Berman (Robbinsville, N.J. / Robbinsville) headed the ball over the Covenant keeper and inside the right post.
W&L then doubled its lead in the 47th minute on a chance created on a run into the box by senior forward
Lindsay White (Greenville, S.C. / JL Mann). White sent a cross to the left, where sophomore midfielder
Ann Riley Huber (Atlanta, Ga. / Holy Innocents' Episcopal) had a shot blocked. The Covenant defense failed to clear the ball, and first-year midfielder
Helen Otteni (Arlington, Va. / The Potomac School) corralled the loose ball on the right side. With enough room for a shot, Otteni sent her attempt to the top-right corner where it deflected off the keeper's gloves and into the back of the net.
Huber aided to the Generals' final tally in the 86th minute with a run up the left side and into the box. She sent a cross to senior midfielder
Grace Wielechowski (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic), who fired a left-footed shot from about 10 yards away and into the bottom-left corner of the frame.
The Scots scored their lone goal of the game just 23 seconds later when Annabella Goehring found the back of the net following a pass from Lydia Osborne. W&L had the game firmly in hand, however, as Covenant's goal came on just their second and final shot attempt of the game.
Wielechowski led the W&L offense with four shots on the day, with her 86th-minute goal counting as her second of the season. Wehner's assist on the Berman goal was her second of the year, tied for the team lead, while Berman's score went down as the first of her collegiate career. Otteni's goal was her second of the season, and she is now tied with White and Wielechowski for the team lead. In goal,
Sydney Smith (3-0-2) played all 90 minutes and made one save.
For the Scots, Goehring and Aiden Strawbridge tallied one shot attempt apiece on offense, both of which were on target. Goalkeeper Lucy Sandoff (2-3-1) played the entirety of the contest and made two stops.
Shots favored W&L by a final margin of 23-2, while the Blue and White also won the corner kick battle by a count of 9-0.
The Generals will be back in action on Sunday when they travel to Berry (Ga.) for a 1:00 pm kick-off against the Vikings.
