LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 4/9 Washington and Lee women's soccer team posted a 2-0 win over Ferrum on Wednesday night to clinch the top overall seed and home-field advantage for this season's ODAC Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals' (14-1-1, 9-0-0 ODAC) offense was the dominant force on the night, maintaining possession for a bulk of the game to not only keep the pressure on the Ferrum (13-4-1, 4-4-1 ODAC) defense, but to also keep the pressure of their own backline.
In the 17th minute, W&L broke through on the scoreboard when senior
Ann Riley Huber found junior
Sarah Zimmerman from inside the box with a centering pass. Zimmerman managed to put enough power behind her attempt to get it past Ferrum keeper Ashli Wuss and into the back of the net.
W&L went into the halftime break with their 1-0 lead intact, while also holding a 23-0 advantage in total shots and 13-0 in corner kicks attempted. Through the first 32 minutes of the second half, the Generals got another 19 shots off, but they were unable to add to their lead. In the 78th minute, W&L got an insurance tally off a Ferrum own goal after a cross into the box was mishandled by Wuss and subsequently redirected into its own goal.
Ferrum ended the night without a shot attempt or a corner kick, following the efforts by both the W&L offense and defense.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Zimmerman led the offensive efforts for the Generals with her seventh goal of the season among nine shots and five attempts on goal. Huber picked up her fourth assist of the year and took two shots. Other shot leaders for W&L included junior
Sophie Berman (7), first-year
Megan Zimmerman (5), junior
Sydney Devory (4) and junior
Helen Otteni (4).
Wuss performed impressively in the Ferrum goal and kept the Panthers in the game across the 90 minutes of play. She made 17 saves on the night, including nine in the second half.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals' win on Wednesday night clinches the ODAC regular season title for the Blue and White and ensures all of their conference tournament games will be played at Watt Field. It is the second time in three seasons that W&L has topped the ODAC table in the regular season.
W&L's shutout streak reached eight straight games and 805:58 consecutive minutes with Wednesday's clean sheet. The eight straight shutouts are tied for the fourth-longest such streak in program history, and 13 total shutouts is tied for fifth most in a season, most recently accomplished in 2019.
Entering the day, the Generals were up to sixth in Division III in goals-against average at 0.267. That mark improved to 0.250 with the day's shutout. The Generals are also up to the No. 4 spot in the most recent NCAA NPI rankings.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game with a 44-0 margin in total shots after outshooting the Panthers, 21-0, in the second half. The Blue and White also took 19 corners on the night after an additional six in the second half.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will close out the regular season on Saturday when they host Guilford at 1:00 p.m. Prior to opening kick-off, W&L's two-player senior class will be honored as part of Senior Day.
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.
