LEXINGTON, Va. – Two goals in both halves, along with a stellar defensive effort, gave the Washington and Lee men's soccer team a 4-0 win over No. 23 Lynchburg on Wednesday night to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ODAC Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Junior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe gave the Generals (10-3-4, 8-1-1 ODAC) an early 1-0 lead, as he scored just 5:15 into the game. W&L had momentarily given the ball away at midfield, but junior
Asa Tuke regained possession for the Blue and White, and he sent a long pass up the field to Agbeyegbe, who was knifing through the defense. Agbeyegbe took one touch forward on the ball and put a shot past Lynchburg (12-3-2, 7-2-1 ODAC) keeper Thomas Viscuso for the goal.
The Generals maintained their 1-0 lead for the next 39 minutes, allowing just four shots in that span, before a penalty kick was given in W&L's favor on a handball inside the Lynchburg goal box. Junior
Lucas Pleasants took the penalty shot and calmly scored just to the left of the center of the frame.
Just as he did in the first half, Agbeyegbe wasted little time in the second half to boost the team's lead to 3-0. Tuke collected the assist on the play once again, as he found Agbeyegbe in the box for the goal just 4:50 into the second half. Junior
Paul Collins added the fourth and final goal in the 83rd minute, after Agbeyegbe split a pair of defenders in the box and raced to get a touch onto Collins before colliding with a defender. Collins then hit a left-footed shot inside the right post for his second goal of the season.
Despite playing down a man for the final 36:35 due to a red card, the Hornets managed six shots in the second half and put two on goal. Sophomore keeper
Will Joseph stopped two shots in the second half, including a diving effort on the left post in the 70th minute to keep W&L ahead by three goals.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Agbeyegbe accounted for three goals on the night and totaled five points with his two goals and assist. His two goals increased his season total to nine and his point tally to 22. Tuke finished the game with two assists for his first career multi-assist game. Agbeyegbe and sophomore
Matteo Adler tied for the game high of three shot attempts, with all six shots between the two finding the target.
With his two saves in the second half, Joseph finished the game with three to record his sixth shutout of the season.
Zach Whelan, Carter Averette and Chris Bovo all took two shots to lead the Lynchburg offense, with Bovo and Averette putting one shot each on goal. Viscuso played all 90 minutes in goal for the Hornets, and he made four saves.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Agbeyegbe's big game moved him up a pair of W&L men's soccer statistical leaderboards. His career goal total is now 30, which makes him just the eighth player in program history to score 30 goals or more. He also vaulted past Zach Colby '15 on the career points list, as he sits in eighth place with 76 (30g, 16a), just two points behind David Knight '62 for seventh place.
Joseph's sixth shutout of the season matched his 2022 total, which moves him out of a tie for ninth place in program history and into a three-way tie for seventh with Jack Pringle '90 and Chris Gareis '88. Now with six clean sheets in back-to-back seasons, Joseph is the first goalkeeper to accomplish that feat since Michael Nyc '22 did so in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns.
With the completion of the regular season, the Generals finish with an 8-1-1 ODAC record, which marks six straight seasons in which the team has not lost more than once in conference play.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game with a 15-10 edge in total shots, which included a 9-4 margin in the first half. Nine of the Generals' shots were on target, to three for the Hornets, but Lynchburg earned five corner kicks and allowed just two.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will host an ODAC Quarterfinal game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., with eighth-seeded Averett serving as the opponent. W&L won its regular season matchup against the Cougars by a 3-0 score on the road on October 1.
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.
