LEXINGTON, Va. – The ninth-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team cruised into the NCAA Round of 16 on Saturday behind multiple records in a 21-10 win over Centre.
The Generals improve to 17-4 overall on their 11th consecutive win to break the program's single-season wins record. The previous mark of 16 had been reached in five other seasons, most recently in 2019.
The Colonels (13-4) struck first a minute and a half into the game, but the Generals quickly seized control with an 8-1 run spanning into the second quarter. Senior
Hudson Pokorny (Darien, Conn. / Darien) scored each of the team's first three goals and added two assists later in the run for five points in the early going. His fifth point, an assist to sophomore
Joey Allen (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) with 1:34 left in the first, gave him an even 100 points for the season, making him the first player in program history to reach that number in a single campaign.
Centre followed with two of the next three scores before W&L countered with another four straight goals, including one from junior
Michael Ott (West Newbury, Mass. / St. John's Prep) with seven seconds left in the half for a 13-4 lead. Pokorny made more history during that run, as an assist to senior
Henry Holliday (Washington, D.C. / St. Albans) at the 5:29 mark gave him 54 helpers on the season to break the Old Dominion Athletic Conference record of 53 set by Kyle Lewis in 2021.
During the second half, the Colonels managed to get as close as six goals down (13-7 and 14-8), before one final W&L run of 7-1 into the fourth quarter secured the win. Ott led the offense with three points during the run, while Pokorny (1g, 1a), senior
Danny Kung (Dallas, Texas / Episcopal) (2g) and first-year
James Haley (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) (2g) each tallied two points.
Pokorny finished the day with nine points on five goals and four assists. He will enter Sunday's contest at 104 points and one of just 11 players in Division III with 100 or more points this season. Ott capped his performance with four points, along with sophomore
Hillis Burns (Louisville, Ky. / St. Xavier), who scored twice and dished out two assists. Allen and Haley both notched two goals and an assist, and sophomore
Riley Albregts (Mountain Lakes, N.J. / Mountain Lakes) matched their three points with one goal and two helpers.
On face-offs, junior
Will Bou (Chevy Chase, Md. / Landon) and senior
Matt Gallagher (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass) combined to win 20-of-35 (571), with Bou going 11-of-17 with six ground balls. Junior
Jed Heald (Manchester, N.H. / Phillips Academy Andover (Mass.)) and sophomore
Brian Barringer (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln Sudbury Regional) led the defense with five ground balls apiece, with seniors
Harris Hubbard (Madison, Miss. / Highland Park (Texas)) and
Boots Lackey (Alexandria, Va. / The Heights School) and first-year
Chris Datz (West Chester, Pa. / Malvern Preparatory School) all claiming three ground balls and a caused turnover.
In goal, senior
Warren Seeds (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) saw a majority of the action. He made six saves across the first 52:17 of play, before first-year
Ryan Boyd (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham) finished the game and made one save.
The Colonels were led on offense by a five-point performance from Will Hubbs, who scored twice and finished with three assists. Max Speers scored three times to lead the team, while Mick Ginnity produced three points. Alex Mozingo picked up a game-high nine ground balls on face-offs, as he went 15-of-33.
Defensively, Hubbs added two ground balls and a caused turnover to match Max Moldenhauer. Vassar Barney and Jack Furlong also had strong days with two caused turnovers and a ground ball each. Sammy Zickel was the goalkeeper of record, and he made eight saves in 56:24.
W&L went a perfect 20-of-20 on clear attempts and got to 40 ground balls to 28 for the Colonels. The Blue and White also outshot the visitors, 41-30.
The Generals will meet Grove City in Sunday's NCAA Round of 16 contest after the Wolverines came back to upset No. 14 Swarthmore, 18-17, in overtime in Wilson Field's second game on Saturday. The opening face-off on Sunday is slated for 3:00 pm.
