NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A barrage of three goals in a six-minute span in the second half powered the Washington and Lee men's soccer team to a 3-0 win at Christopher Newport on Wednesday evening in a key in-region contest for both teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Captains (5-3-3) had the upperhand early in the game as they tested W&L (7-3-1) junior goalkeeper
Will Joseph with three shots on goal in the first seven minutes among five total in the opening half. Joseph made each stop, however, including a pair of acrobatic saves within the first seven minutes.
With the game still scoreless heading into the 54th minute, the Generals made their first dent on the scoreboard when a cross from the right side from senior
Weyimi Agbeyegbe was tapped into the goal by sophomore
Matthew Jenkins. Just over three minutes later, Agbeyegbe found a wide-open
Lucas Pleasants on the left side of the box. Pleasants measured his shot and blasted an attempt past the keeper at the near post to double the lead.
W&L kept at it in the 60th minute with yet another goal when sophomore
Taha Kaba stole the ball from the CNU defender in the W&L attacking third and found Agbeyegbe in the box for the senior's seventh goal of the season.
The W&L offense kept the ball in its possession for a majority of the second half, while the Generals' defense cut down nearly all potential goal-scoring threats. The Captains' only shot on goal in the second half came in the 88th minute, but Joseph made the stop with ease.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Agbeyegbe had a hand in all three W&L goals with two assists and a score for a total of four points. He leads the team across the board this season in goals (7), assists (5) and points (19). Pleasants' goal was his fourth of the season, while Jenkins netted his first of 2024, and Kaba tallied his first helper of the campaign. Joseph played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with six saves to earn the clean sheet.
Jason LaViola was the Captains' leader in shot attempts with four, and he put two on goal. Mason Field (3) and Caleb Jones (2) combined for five shot attempts and two on goal. In the CNU net, Hayden Dewey played the first 77:19 and made one save. Aidan O'Mahoney followed and made one stop over the final 12:41.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With his team-best four points on the night, Agbeyegbe closed the gap on the program's all-time points list between himself and Jamie Parker '00 (110) to just five. Agbeyegbe's two assists vaulted him into fourth place in program history, past Mike Mitchem '93 and Patrick Brown '90 (both 22), and he also moved into sole possession of the third-most goals scored in program history (41), moving out of a tie with Scott Fechnay '69.
Joseph's shutout on Wednesday night marked the 19th of his career, which ties him with Tim Foley '03 for the second-most clean sheets in program history. Only Michael Nyc '22 (24) recorded more in a Generals uniform.
The Generals' 3-0 win over the Captains marked the largest margin of victory by either side in the schools' all-time series. Both teams owned one two-goal win each, both of which came in the first two all-time matchups in the late 1990's. Wednesday's result was the first decided by more than one goal since a 2-0 CNU win on October 2, 1999, spanning a stretch of eight consecutive meetings decided by a goal or less.
TEAM STATS:
The Captains ended the game with a 14-11 advantage in total shots, helped by their 9-2 margin at the half. W&L outshot CNU by a 9-5 count in the second half and won the corner-kick battle for the game at 8-4.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to ODAC play for the remainder of the regular season, and they will next face Ferrum at home on Saturday at 1:00 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.
