LEXINGTON, Va. – A late run provided a sizeable cushion for the eighth-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team in a 19-10 win over Ithaca on Wednesday evening.
After a Kyle Proctor goal reduced the Bombers' (3-1) deficit to 12-9 at the 2:19 mark of the third quarter, W&L (5-1) senior
Boots Lackey (Alexandria, Va. / The Heights School) responded just 13 seconds later to kickstart a final 7-1 run to secure the win. The run included a 5-0 spurt started by Lackey's score, and sophomore
Joey Allen (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) and junior
Michael Ott (West Newbury, Mass. / St. John's Prep) led the run with two goals apiece. Sophomore
Hillis Burns (Louisville, Ky. / St. Xavier) added a pair of assists during the stretch as well.
Seniors
Hudson Pokorny (Darien, Conn. / Darien) and
Henry Holliday (Washington, D.C. / St. Albans) scored the first two goals of the game, respectively, but Ithaca provided back-to-back goals in response in the opening frame. The teams then traded one more goal each, before Pokorny found the back of the net two more times, ahead of a
Riley Albregts (Mountain Lakes, N.J. / Mountain Lakes) goal, to give W&L an 8-4 lead at the 9:45 mark in the second quarter.
Neither side seized momentum over the next 18 minutes of play, as both teams scored four goals with no scoring run longer than two straight. Allen scored a man-up goal with 6:14 remaining in the third, before Proctor's goal ahead of the final W&L run.
Four Generals logged hat tricks in the game, led by four goals from Pokorny and a game-high six points on three goals and three assists from Burns. Allen scored three times as well, while Holliday notched a three-goal, one-assist effort on the night. Pokorny's four goals marked a new career high, while Burns tallied his fourth-straight hat trick and his third game with six or more points of the season. Allen's three scores marked his third hat trick of the season.
On face-offs, the combination of juniors
Will Bou (Chevy Chase, Md. / Landon) and
Nick Tussing (Owings Mills, Md. / Gilman) held Ithaca's Chase Gulick, who entered play with a 70.4 percent (57-81) win rate, to just 13-of-32. Bou claimed 15-of-25 face-offs, while Tussing won 4-of-7 for a combined 59.4 percent win rate.
Lackey, in addition to his goal, picked up a team-high six ground balls, and first-year
Colin Beatty (Summit, N.J. / Summit) finished with five ground balls and two assists. Albregts scored once, notched four ground balls and caused a turnover, and senior
Harris Hubbard (Madison, Miss. / Highland Park (Texas)) and first-year
Elliot Cohen (Stamford, Conn. / Taft School) both totaled three ground balls and a caused turnover.
In goal, first-year Will Boyd (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) (4-1) played all 60 minutes and made 10 saves, in addition to a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover.
The Bombers were led on offense by Jake Erickson, who had five points on two goals and three assists. Charlie Niebuhr and John Sramac both had two goals and an assist, while Jack Pastore (two assists) and Connor Brumfield (one goal, one assist) rounded out the multi-point scorers.
Gulick tied with Jared Sedlock for the team high in ground balls (6), with Wesley Hudkins adding four, to three ground balls and a caused turnover for Hunter Wallace. Goalkeeper Ryan LaForty (3-1) also played all 60 minutes between the pipes and made 16 saves.
W&L took 48 shots in the game and put 35 on frame, including an 11-for-11 shots-on-goal effort in the fourth quarter. The Blue and White also forced three more turnovers than it committed, and was a perfect 22-for-22 on clear attempts.
The Generals will return to action on Saturday in their first ODAC matchup of the season, a 1:00 pm road contest at Guilford.
