LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's soccer team defended its home field and gave No. 2 Christopher Newport all it could handle, as the two teams battled to a scoreless draw on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Captains (9-0-1) dominated the shot advantage in the first half, but had trouble finding the target. Only one of their 13 first-half shots was on goal, and that attempt came on a free kick in the 35th minute. From long range, Sarah Smith blasted a shot over a wall of W&L (6-0-3) defenders that was knocked away by a diving
Sydney Smith just inside the left post. Smith also had an impressive catch in the box in the early going on a CNU cross just in front of the goal.
The Generals notched the first and last shot attempts of the first half, a blocked shot from sophomore
Bryn Bissinger in the fifth minute and a long-range attempt that missed wide-left in the 45th minute from senior
Emma Mansfield. W&L's defense held its own in the first half of play and closed any openings the Captains could find, blocking four of CNU's 13 shots.
The second half was much more even, and the Generals saw more opportunities on the offensive end that had them knocking on the door for a goal. W&L managed to record the first three shots of the half, while preventing the next CNU attempt until the 63rd minute. One of the three shots from W&L came in the 57th minute when sophomore
Sarah Zimmerman was found on the back post of a corner cross, but her header went right to CNU keeper Amy Sidaway.
CNU continued to miss the target in the second half as Generals' defenders were relentless in pressuring the ball. Smith was required to make two more saves in the second half, one in the 85th minute and the final stop in the 87th minute, to blank the second-ranked team in Division III.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Smith recorded her second-straight and fifth overall shutout of the season with her three saves in the 90 minutes of play. W&L finished the game with six shots, with each one coming from a different player.
Sarah Smith led the Captains' attack with a game-high eight shots, but she only put two attempts on goal. Clare Davis was responsible for the only other on-target shot. Sidaway finished the day with one save to record the clean sheet.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Both teams entered Sunday with lengthy unbeaten streaks. The Generals improved to 26-0-8 across their last 34 regular season games, as their most recent non-tournament loss came on this day in 2021 to Lynchburg. With the draw, the Captains improved their unbeaten run to 55 games overall (51-0-4), as their last loss of any kind came via a 2-0 decision to Johns Hopkins on November 17, 2019.
Smith's shutout for the Generals was the 14th of her career, and she lowered her goals-against average for the season to 0.67. Smith currently owns the third-best GAA in the ODAC this season.
TEAM STATS:
The Captains outshot the Generals by a final 20-6 mark, but managed just three shots on goal and had six attempts blocked by the W&L defense. CNU earned six corner kicks to two for the home side.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will continue their homestand in their next contest, which comes on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. against Eastern Mennonite.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
