LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 4/9 Washington and Lee women's soccer team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Guilford, in what was also the team's regular season finale.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game remained scoreless until the 38th minute when a W&L (15-1-1, 10-0-0 ODAC) cross in from the left was knocked out of the box by the Guilford (12-4-2, 6-3-1 ODAC) defense. Junior
Sarah Zimmerman came up to the ball and hit a one-time shot past the keeper and into the top-left corner of the frame for the 1-0 lead.
The Generals held a 22-2 advantage in total shots through 45 minutes of play behind strong possession from the offense. Neither of the two Quakers' shots in the first half were on goal, as the backline stay sharp against any potential threats.
W&L carried its 1-0 lead into the 73rd minute when senior
Ann Riley Huber got a cross off from the right before taking contact from a Guilford defender. Her cross bounced off another defender in the box and came right to first-year
Elizabeth Zimmerman, who hit a shot with her left foot and inside the right post to double the lead.
Four and a half minutes later,
Sarah Zimmerman added an insurance score on a header through the legs of GC keeper Ady Franken. In the build-up of the play, Huber had the ball yet again on the right side and left it ahead to lead first-year
Avery Hannah towards the box. Just before the ball crossed the endline, Hannah sent the ball into the middle where Zimmerman finished the play.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Zimmerman tallied two goals and eight shot attempts in the game, as she is up to a team-high nine goals and 26 points this season. Huber finished with one shot and picked up her fifth and sixth assists of the season, while
Elizabeth Zimmerman's goal was her first of the season. Hannah's assist on the team's third goal was her second of the year.
For the fourth time this season, the Generals held their opponent without a shot on goal. Between the offense possessing the ball and the defense locking down the Guilford offense, the Quakers finished with just three total shots. It is the fifth game this season a W&L opponent has taken three shots or fewer.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals' win on Saturday capped off a perfect 10-0 record in ODAC play, the first season in program history in which the team won all its conference games (min. 8 played). It is the second time in the last three seasons the Generals have gone unbeaten in ODAC play (8-0-2 in 2022), and it is the first season since 2014 that the program reached double-digit ODAC wins. Outside of the COVID-shortened 2021 spring season, the last ODAC team to win all its conference games was Randolph-Macon in 2019 (10-0).
With the shutout, W&L extended its consecutive shutouts streak to nine games and 895:58 minutes. Junior
Abby Groff, who claimed her ninth shutout of the season by playing all 90 minutes on Saturday, has been in goal for 712:56 during the nearly 900 straight minutes since the team last allowed a goal. That run is good for the seventh-longest individual streak in program history.
The Generals' defense continues to improve upon its Top 10 national ranking for goals-against average. They entered the day tied with SUNY Brockport for fifth in Division III at 0.250 and improved that mark to 0.235 on Saturday.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the day with a 35-3 total shot advantage over the Quakers, following a 13-1 margin in the second half. The Blue and White also earned 12 corner kicks in the game and conceded none.
UP NEXT:
The Generals entered Saturday having already locked up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming ODAC Tournament. They will host eighth-seeded Roanoke on Tuesday at Watt Field 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.
