MEDFORD, Mass. – Sophomore
Matteo Adler found the back of the net in the 49th minute for the Washington and Lee men's soccer team, giving the Generals all they needed to get by 20th-ranked Tufts in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With the game still scoreless early in the second half, Adler took control of the ball on the left side after junior
PJ Ryan sent a long, diagonal pass from the defending third. Adler made a defender and continued his run towards the box. He was tripped up momentarily, but regained his footing, made another defender miss and fired with his left foot toward goal. The ball then took a slight deflection off a defender and made its way inside the left post for the score.
The Generals (15-4-4) controlled the pace of play in the first half, and they held a 10-3 advantage in total shots at the break. All three of Tufts' (14-4-3) attempts came inside the inside the first 24 minutes of play, none of which found the target.
Following Adler's goal, the W&L defense continued its strong play with only two shot attempts allowed over the next 20 minutes. The Jumbos had a final rush of pressure from the 71st to 83 minutes with three shots and two on goal. Generals' sophomore keeper
Will Joseph stopped both on-target attempts, however, to keep the Blue and White out in front. The Jumbos' final shot came from Ben Brown in the 83rd minute, as the defensive unit stood its ground to claim the win.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Adler's score in the 49th minute was his fourth of the season, and he finished the game with two shots. Senior
Grant McCarty with five shot attempts and junior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe had four shots and one on goal. Joseph finished the day with three saves, including his two late in the second half, to record his eighth shutout of the season.
Sean Traynor and Mateo Bargagna led the Tufts offense with just two shots each, with Bargagna tallying one shot on goal. Goalkeeper Nikola Antic stopped one of three shots on goal across the 90 minutes of play.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With their win on Saturday, the Generals advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in program history, with the other appearance coming during the 2021 campaign when the team finished the year as a national semifinalist.
Joseph's eighth shutout this season was the 14th of his career, and he needs just two more to tie Gillen Beck '18 and E.J. Murphy '99 for fifth most in program history. Additionally, he is now in a six-way tie for the second-most shutouts in a single season. The last W&L men's soccer goalkeeper to reach eight in a season was Michael Nyc '22 in 2021, who finished that campaign with what is the current program single-season record (12).
TEAM STATS:
After their 10-3 shot margin in the first half, W&L went on to outshoot Tufts, 9-5, in the second half to finish with a 19-8 total advantage. Corner kicks, however, favored the home side at a 7-4 count.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will play No. 16 Colorado College on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Tigers punched their ticket to Sunday's game with a 1-0 win over Ohio Northern in Saturday's second game, getting a 97th-minute score from Teddy Libby.
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.
