LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 6/12 Washington and Lee women's soccer team improved to 8-0 in ODAC play on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Virginia Wesleyan.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (13-1-1, 8-0 ODAC) got on the board in the 20th minute when they earned a corner kick on the left side. Instead of playing it into the box, junior
Sydney Devory found junior
Bryn Bissinger unmarked just outside the 18 on the left. With plenty of shooting space, Bissinger fired with her right foot and placed her shot just under the crossbar and out of reach of the keeper.
W&L nearly doubled its lead 10 minutes later on another powerful shot, this time from first-year
Megan Zimmerman, but VWU (6-5-3, 6-2-0 ODAC) keeper Allie Greco made an acrobatic save to punch the ball over the frame.
The game remained in the Generals' favor by a 1-0 score until junior
Sarah Zimmerman found the back of the net for the sixth time this season. The goal came following a pass from first-year
Elizabeth Zimmerman back to first-year
Maren Brown in the center of the field, when Brown turned and found
Sarah Zimmerman making a run up field. Zimmerman then blasted a shot from well outside the 18 and into the side-netting inside the left post.
As they have done time and time again this season, the W&L defenders cut down all threats from the Marlins offense for most of the game. It wasn't until the 72nd minute when the Marlins found enough room for their first shot of the day. Finding some openings, Virginia Wesleyan got four shots off within a minute, but all missed the target. The Marlins' only other shot in the game came in the 89th minute, but Shyenne Diaz's effort was stopped by W&L keeper
Abby Groff.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Bissinger's goal in the first half marked her first of the season and the third of her career. Devory picked up her fifth assist of the season on the score, second most on the team, while Brown and
Elizabeth Zimmerman both picked up their first assists of the season on
Sarah Zimmerman's goal.
Sarah Zimmerman also tied with sophomore
Emily Burke for the most shot attempts in the game (5), with five on goal between the two. Junior
Sophie Berman and
Megan Zimmerman combined for seven shots and four on goal, while Groff collected her seventh shutout of the season.
Five different Marlin players took one shot each in the game, while Greco played all 90 minutes in goal and made eight saves to keep the deficit from further swelling.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With Saturday's win, the Generals extended their unbeaten streak to 14 games (13-0-1) and their consecutive shutout minutes streak to 715:58. During the last 715:58 without allowing a goal, Groff has been the netminder for 532:56 of that time, which gives her the 10th-longest individual consecutive shutout minutes streak in program history.
In total, W&L has 12 shutouts on the season and have blanked opponents in seven straight contests, the sixth-longest shutout streak in program history.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals finished the game with an overall shot advantage of 27-2, spread out by a 9-0 margin in the first half and 18-5 in the second. The Blue and White also took nine corners in the game, five in the first half, and allowed one.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host Ferrum 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.
