LEXINGTON, Va. – Three goals and a balanced attack led the No. 11 Washington and Lee men's soccer team to a 3-1 win in the team's home opener against Sewanee on Friday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (1-1-2) had yet to score in its three prior games (all on the road), but needed just 86 seconds on the home pitch to dent the scoreboard and take a 1-0 lead. After a Sewanee (1-1) turnover in the W&L defensive end, sophomore
Willy Hall brought the ball up to midfield and passed it off to sophomore
Matteo Adler making a run up the center of the pitch.
Adler took two touches then found junior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe at the top of 18-yard box. With a pair of Sewanee defenders around him and the keeper closing in, Agbeyegbe slotted the ball to the keeper's right and inside the left post for the first score.
The game remained at a 1-0 W&L advantage until the 40th minute when junior
PJ Ryan hit senior
Evan DiPaula on a pass in the middle of the field in the Sewanee defensive third. DiPaula tried to squeeze a pass through the defense, but it was broken up momentarily. Sticking with the play, DiPaula moved in, collected the ball around the penalty spot and deposited a left-footed shot into the upper left-hand corner of the frame for a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers looked to spoil the Generals' home opener when Will Hawgood headed in a pass from Connor Dail in the 75th minute, just out of the reach of a leaping
Will Joseph. However, sophomore
Alec Perez and first-year
Taha Kaba teamed up for the victory-sealing goal in the 85th minute, when Perez took a free kick from deep in Tigers territory on the left side, and found Kaba on the far post for the close-range tap in.
TOP PERFORMERS
The three W&L goals and two assists were tallied by five different players. Agbeyegbe's second-minute goal marked the 22nd of his career, while DiPaula netted his second career goal. Kaba's late score was the first of his rookie season, Perez collected his second career assist on the play and Adler gained his fourth career assist on Agbeyegbe's goal.
Joseph played all 90 minutes in goal and made four saves to earn his first win of the season, while first-year Sam Harwell stopped six shots in the Sewanee goal across all 90 minutes.
Hawgood's goal came on one of his three shots on the night, while Tyler Cozzie led all players with four total attempts. Dail assisted on Hawgood's goal, and he also took two shots.
NOTES OF IMPORTANCE:
The W&L defense is off to a historic start across the team's first four games this season. It is the first time since the 2021 season and just the second since 2014 that the Generals have conceded two goals across their first four games. In fact, no W&L team has ever conceded fewer than two goals across the first four games of a season since the program's inaugural campaign in 1947.
TEAM STATS:
W&L held a 10-7 advantage in total shots at halftime, but the Tigers rebounded in the second half with a 15-8 margin in the second half to finish with an overall 22-18 edge. The Blue and White were more accurate, however, putting 9-of-18 shots on target to just 5-of-22 for the visitors. Sewanee also held a slight 6-5 final total in corner kicks taken.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will get back on the road for their next three games, starting with a Sunday contest against Otterbein at 3:00 p.m. The game will be played at Trace Fork Fields in Charleston, W.Va.
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.
