GRANVILLE, Ohio – An 8-1 second-half margin helped the 10th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team overcome a four-goal halftime deficit at No. 15 Denison for a 12-9 road win on Sunday.
After the Big Red (2-1) had outscored the Blue and White (4-0), 7-1, in the second quarter, sophomores
Jack Elliott (Suffolk, Va. / Norfolk Academy) and
Hillis Burns (Louisville, Ky. / St. Xavier) combined for all three team goals in the third quarter to get the Generals back within a goal heading to the fourth. Burns then scored the tying and go-ahead goal within the first 2:11 of the fourth quarter, before adding an assist to classmate
Joey Allen (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) at the 11:53 mark to give W&L a 10-8 lead.
Denison's Luke Fisher scored a man-up goal two minutes later to cut the W&L lead back to one, but senior
Hudson Pokorny (Darien, Conn. / Darien) got the goal back 77 seconds later. The W&L defense locked Denison's offense down the rest of the way, forcing three turnovers in the final 8:29, with Allen adding the final goal of the game with just two seconds remaining.
Fisher gave Denison an initial 1-0 lead four minutes into the game, but three straight goals from three different Generals gave the team a 3-1 advantage heading into the second. The 7-1 advantage from the Big Red in the second quarter came on the first two goals and final five of the frame, before the Generals regrouped at halftime for the comeback win.
Burns drove the W&L offense with seven total points on four goals and three assists. It was Burns' third straight game with at least three goals and his second game this season with seven points or more (9 vs. Catholic). Allen and Elliott each tallied three points to round out the Generals with multiple points. Allen scored three goals, his third hat trick of the season, while Elliott found the back of the net twice and assisted on a Burns third-quarter goal.
Nine different Generals picked up multiple ground balls on the day, with Pokorny, seniors
Alex Kelly (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and
Warren Seeds (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) and juniors
Jed Heald (Manchester, N.H. / Phillips Academy Andover (Mass.)) and
Will Bou (Chevy Chase, Md. / Landon) each grabbing three. Heald also added a team-high two caused turnovers. In goal, Seeds (1-0) picked up the win after he came on in the second quarter to make four saves across the final 37:44 of action.
Fisher provided a team-best three goals for the Denison offense, while Ethan Tyack matched Fisher's three points with two scores and a helper. Jack Hines scored twice and Nate Kay capped off the multi-point efforts with a goal and an assist. Colin MacLean finished with a game-high four ground balls, and he also went 6-for-11 on face-offs. Grant Larson and Andrew Brim each picked up three ground balls, with Larson adding a goal on the offensive end.
Fisher was one of two Big Red players to cause two turnovers, as he joined Douglas Brooks. Archer Darrach (2-1) played all 60 minutes between the pipes and made 15 saves in the losing effort.
W&L outshot Denison by a 44-30 margin, including 24-14 in the second half, with a 27-13 advantage in attempts on goal. The Generals turned the ball over 13 times, to 19 for the Big Red, and added a 30-24 edge in ground balls.
The Generals will return home in their next game, a 1:00 pm opening face-off against No. 3 Gettysburg at Wilson Field on Saturday, March 11.
