LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee men's soccer team received at least three points from three players on Saturday, as the top-seeded Generals coasted to a 6-0 win over eighth-seeded Averett.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First-year
Brad Dulin put W&L (11-3-4) on the board in the 22nd minute on his first goal of the season. Junior
Asa Tuke started the play with a pass upfield and into the box for junior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe, who turned and found Dulin cutting in the middle of the box. Dulin then slipped the ball into the back of the net for the lead.
With the game appearing to favor the Generals, 1-0, at the half, junior
Paul Collins played a pass up to first-year
Taha Kaba, who quickly sent a cross to the back post where sophomore
Alec Perez finished the job and gave the Generals their second goal.
Despite halftime coming just 29 seconds after Perez's goal, the sophomore's score gave the team enough momentum to carry into the second half, igniting the offense for four more goals, all of which came in a 24-minute span. Junior
PJ Ryan put W&L up three goals with a header on a corner cross from sophomore
Willy Hall in the 57th minute, followed by an
Asa Tuke score in the 67th minute that rocketed into the top left corner of the goal from a shot on the right side of the box.
Agbeyegbe broke the double-digit goal barrier for the season in the 70th minute coming off a pass from Tuke, while Perez secured a brace for the game in the 81st minute on a
Buster Couhig pass that was flicked on to Perez by first-year
Nick Apostolou.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Perez and Tuke led the trio of W&L players with three or more points on the day, with four points each. Perez boosted his season goal total to six with his brace, while Tuke accounted for a team-high three goals on one score and two helpers. Agbeyegbe completed the three-point performers on the day, with a goal and one assist.
As a team, the Generals accrued nine assists on the six goals, as the team passed the ball with ease once inside the Averett goal box. Tuke was the only multi-assist player, while Hall, Agbeyegbe, Apostolou, Kaba, Couhig and senior
Park Bruner all had one.
The team recorded its eighth shutout of the season, on the strength of the W&L backline allowing seven shots, but none on goal. Sophomore
Will Joseph started and covered 69:56 in goal before junior
Matt Semcesen came on and played the final 20:04.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With his three points in the game, Agbeyegbe moved into seventh place on the program's all-time points list, as his 79 points vaults him past David Knight '62. He also moved into a three-way tie with Jack Horowitz '69 and current volunteer assistant coach
Gordon Meeker '98 for seventh place in career assists (17). Additionally, Agbeyegbe became the first player to score 10 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since Zach Colby '15 did so in three straight from 2012-14.
The 6-0 win nearly matched last season's ODAC quarterfinal result for the Blue and White, as the Generals defeated Guilford, 7-0, a year ago. W&L becomes the first men's soccer program in ODAC history to win by at least six goals in the quarterfinal round in back-to-back seasons. The previous high for goal differential across two consecutive quarterfinal trips was 12 (12-0) held by the 1996 (5-0) and 1997 (1997) Roanoke teams.
TEAM STATS:
W&L outshot the Cougars by a final margin of 19-7, which was split by an 11-4 mark in the first half and 8-3 in the second. The Blue and White earned 10 corner kicks in the game, while the Cougars took three.
UP NEXT:
The Generals move into the ODAC Semifinals with their win over Averett, and will host the winner of the No. 4 Shenandoah/No. 5 Eastern Mennonite quarterfinal at Watt Field on Wednesday.
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.
