NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – In a battle of two of the nation's top-10 defenses, the Washington and Lee and Christopher Newport women's soccer teams fought to a scoreless draw on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
It took just over 15 minutes for the game's first shot, as both defenses held the early advantage. After an attempt missed wide from CNU's Emma Ricci, the Generals' offense held a majority of the chances over the next 30 minutes of play at 5-1. In the 30th minute, W&L nearly broke through on the scoreboard when a shot from junior
Sydney Devory banged off the post, with a follow-up attempt from junior
Sophie Berman getting blocked.
In the 39th minute, Otteni tried her luck for the second time in the game, but the Captains' Amy Sidaway made the save. One final shot in the half from junior
Sarah Zimmerman was blocked, as the Generals outshot the hosts 5-2 in the opening half.
The Captains' offense came alive in the second half, totaling eight shot attempts while allowing just one to W&L, which came in the 85th minute. From the 50th minute to the 59th, CNU got five shots off, four of which came from Corinne Kulik, and three were on goal. All three on-target attempts came off the foot of Kulik, but junior
Abby Groff held strong and made each save to keep the game scoreless.
The W&L defense settled back in after that and allowed only one shot on goal over the final 32 minutes, which Groff stopped once again in 74th minute. In a last-chance effort for the game, W&L earned a corner kick in the final 10 seconds, but it proved to be not enough time to find the winner.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Groff finished the game with four saves to clinch her sixth shutout of the season. Her counterpart, Sidaway, made one save across the 90 minutes of play.
Kulik finished with a game-high four shot attempts, with three of her teammates and Otteni all coming in next with two shots.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Despite their winning streak coming to an end, the Generals extended their undefeated streak to 12 straight games with Sunday's result. The Captains remain unbeaten on the season at 12-0-2 and 81 straight without a loss. W&L and CNU have met in each of the last two seasons now, hosting one game each, and have tied, 0-0, in both games.
The Generals also extended their consecutive shutout minutes streak to 535:58 with Sunday's shutout. It is their second-longest consecutive shutout minutes streak of the season, trailing a run of 579:46 from August 30 to October 2. Their scoreless streak has vaulted the Generals to ninth in Division III in goals-against average at 0.333 prior to Sunday's contest.
TEAM STATS:
Total shot attempts favored the Captains by a 10-6 final after their 8-1 margin in the second half. The Generals took three corners and did not concede any to CNU.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to ODAC play for the remainder of the regular season, and they will next play at Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
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.
