LEXINGTON, Va. – A three-goal performance from Washington and Lee men's soccer senior
Grant McCarty highlighted a five-goal effort for the Generals in a 5-1 home win over Guilford on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Junior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe put the Generals (8-2-3, 6-1-0 ODAC) on top in the 17th minute as he received a pass in the box from senior
Evan DiPaula and used slick footwork to maintain possession between a couple defenders before he slotted a shot inside the left post. That goal spurred a three-goal outburst in just 4:35 of game time, as McCarty got on the board in the 19th minute, followed by a perfectly placed shot to the top-right corner of the frame on a free kick in the 22nd minute.
Leading by a 3-0 score entering the second half, McCarty finished off his hat trick in the 51st minute with junior
Asa Tuke feeding him the ball. On McCarty's first and third scores, Agbeyegbe helped as well, acting as a screen for the Guilford (2-10-1, 0-5-1 ODAC) defense and keeper, allowing both passes to McCarty to find their way through and give McCarty more space to shoot.
The Quakers got a goal back in the 55th minute when a cross from the endline was deflected into the Generals' goal by one of their own defenders. The team managed to get their lead back to four goals in the 87th minute, however, as first-year
Dmitri Tulloch sent a pass into the box that was flicked onward by first-year
Nick Apostolou. Junior
Paul Collins was on the receiving end, and he buried the chance to close the scoring.
TOP PERFORMERS:
McCarty netted his first career hat trick in the game, and he finished the night with six shots, five of which were on target. Agbeyegbe and Collins had identical lines of one goal on five shots and two on goal, while Tuke, DiPaula, Apostolou, Tulloch and sophomore
Matteo Adler all racked up one assist.
In goal, sophomore
Will Joseph started and played the first 52:47 and was not required to make a save. Junior
Matt Semcesen entered in the second half and played the final 37:13 and made one save.
Riley Copeland led the Quakers with two shots and forced Semcesen to make a save in the 58th minute. Despite five goals allowed, Guilford keeper Roman Robinson made nine saves across the 90 minutes of action.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
McCarty becomes the second different player this season to record a hat trick for the Blue and White, after Agbeyegbe found the back of the net three times in a 3-0 win at Averett on October 1. Over the last 23 years in program history, the Generals had not seen multiple players record hat tricks within the same season until doing so today.
With his goal, Agbeyegbe moves into a five-way tie for ninth place on the program's all-time goals list (28), with one of the players including former teammate
Samuel Bass '23. Agbeyegbe also vaulted past former teammate
Michael Kutsanzira '23 for ninth-most career points (70), and he now needs five more to tie Zach Colby '15 for eighth.
The win improves the Generals to 6-1 in conference play this season, and the team has won seven of the last eight games overall. The five goals posted tonight marked a season-high, surpassing the previous high of three achieved four times.
TEAM STATS:
W&L took 17 shots in both halves of play, while limiting the Quakers to three (all in the second half) for a final margin of 34-3. The Blue and White also held decided advantages in shots on goal (16-1) and corner kicks (13-1).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to the pitch on Saturday night when they travel to Randolph for a 7:00 pm bout with the WildCats.
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.
