LEXINGTON, Va. – A first-half goal from junior
Sarah Zimmerman, paired with some key defensive stops in the second half, helped the No. 4/9 Washington and Lee women's soccer team hoist the ODAC Championship trophy for the fifth time in program history on Sunday afternoon, 1-0, over Virginia Wesleyan.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Through the first 20 minutes of play, both teams looked to find a rhythm, but only managed one shot apiece. The Virginia Wesleyan (10-6-3) attempt, a free kick taken by Adrianna Gunther, appeared it was headed for the back of the net, but W&L (18-1-1) junior goalkeeper
Abby Groff leapt to the rescue and punched the ball over the goal for a corner.
From the 21st minute until the end of the half, the Generals' offense settled in for 10 total shots and put three on goal. In the 43rd minute, Zimmerman approached the 18 and let a shot go, but had her attempt blocked. The carom went off a second defender and right back to Zimmerman, who tried her luck again and, this time, put a perfectly placed shot into the top-right corner of the goal.
The Generals carried their momentum from the first half into the second, where they got another seven shots off across the first 17 minutes of play to just one from the Marlins. In the 65th minute, Emma Shuey lofted a cross in that clanked off the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
Just three minutes later, VWU had a golden opportunity when Autumn Horst sent a cross in from the right, which made its way past Groff, who went for a diving punch. With two Marlins attackers behind Groff, Emma Nguyen managed to poke the ball goalward, but W&L junior defender
Sydney Devory was positioned well enough to not only clear the ball off the line, but off of Nguyen and into the arms of Groff.
The Marlins took another six shots over the final 22 minutes and allowed only one to W&L, but none of the six shots were on target. Shuey tried one final time to find a teammate in the closing seconds by sending a through ball up field, but none of her teammates were in the box and Groff covered the ball up as time expired.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Zimmerman's winner in the 43rd minute was her 12th goal of the season and her seventh in the last six games. She finished the game with a high of five shots with three attempts on goal. First-year
Megan Zimmerman took four shots and put two on target, while junior
Sophie Berman and sophomore
Emily Burke both took two shots. Groff played all 90 minutes between the posts for the Blue and White and made one save.
Shuey was the offensive leader for Virginia Wesleyan with three shots, while seven of her teammates each attempted once. VWU first-year keeper Allie Greco came up with four saves across the 90 minutes of action.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With their win, the Generals secured the ODAC's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The team will be making its third consecutive trip to the national tournament after getting in as an at-large team each of the previous two seasons.
For the 12th consecutive game, W&L blanked its opponent and also ran its consecutive shutout minutes streak to 1,165:58. Overall, it was W&L's 17th shutout of the season, which now stands alone as the second-most clean sheets in a season in program history. Groff also extended her own personal consecutive minutes streak to 965:32 to move into second place on W&L's leaderboard, passing Emily Leary '12 (907:30, 2011).
Saturday's win also marked the Generals' 19th straight game without a loss (18-0-1), which is tied for the second-longest streak in program history. The 2022 team (14-0-5) was the last to accomplish the feat, while the 2002 team holds the record at 20 straight contests (16-0-4).
Following the conclusion of the game, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference announced its 2024 Women's Soccer All-Tournament Team. Gunther, Nguyen and Alex Ortega were the Marlins' representatives, while
Sarah Zimmerman, Devory, junior
Bryn Bissinger and sophomore
Amelia Manke were recognized from W&L.
TEAM STATS:
W&L outshot Virginia Wesleyan by a final count of 20-10, which included a 12-1 margin at halftime. The Generals took seven corner kicks and conceded two, their first corner kicks allowed since October 26 when they hosted the Marlins in the regular season.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will find out who and where they play in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament on Monday at 2:00 p.m. The NCAA Selection Show will air on ncaa.com.
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.
