LEXINGTON, Va. - The seventh-ranked Washington and Lee University women's lacrosse team opened up the 2024 season with a 17-10 win over fourth-ranked Franklin and Marshall on Sunday afternoon.
The Generals (1-0) jumped out to a 5-3 lead after the first stanza and used a five-goal spurt in the middle third of action to pull away from Diplomats (0-1). The Blue and White earned an IWLCA Top 10 and non-conference win in the season's debut.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- F&M made the first tally at 13:53, an unassisted Gillian Brennan goal, her first of five for the day.
- Hanna Bishop evened the score up at 12:37 with a player-up advantage then found Shannon Timoney off the next draw for the 2-1 goal.
- The two teams traded the next four scores.
- Alex Petras scored with 4:07 left in the first quarter to start a 10-2 run that extended through 3:39 in the third quarter to give the Generals a 13-5 lead which proved to be too much for the Diplomats to overcome.
- During the flurry of W&L goals, senior Julia Thomson tallied four marks; the co-captain led all scorers with six goals and two assists for eight points including the successful conversion of 3-for-4 free position attempts.
- F&M was able to cut the deficit down to five goals on two occasions with three unanswered goals in less than three minutes to cap bookend the third and fourth quarters.
- Thomson wrapped up the game with her final unassisted score at 4:26 and dished out a helper to Ginny Taylor with 18 seconds left in the contest for the 17th tally of the day.
BY THE NUMBERS
- The Diplomats had a 33-31 advantage in shots which included 14 in the second quarter.
- Both teams took care of the ball with just 23 total turnovers, 12 for F&M and 11 for the Generals.
- F&M was successful in 14-of-16 clears, collected 16 ground balls and recorded 17 draw controls.
- W&L converted 15-of-19 clearing attempts, grabbed 14 draw controls and split the 32 total ground balls with F&M.
- The Generals scored on 7-of-12 free position attempts.
W&L LEADERS
- Senior goalkeeper Caroline Kranich made a career-best 15 stops on Sunday and made seven saves in the second stanza. Between the 5:00 and 3:47 mark in the second quarter, Kranich faced eight shots and made five stops. The Generals defense didn't let up during F&M's rally on top of the crease until a free-position goal with 1:11 left to play in the first half.
- Seven players scored for W&L behind Thomson's six points.
- Bishop and Taylor each recorded hat tricks and Sophie Edwards added a pair of goals.
- Bishop dished out two assists for five points on six shots.
- Timoney led W&L on the draw circle with six DCs and Cat Caples recorded four draws to herself.
- Senior defenders Allie Doyle and Eugenie Rovegno each caused two turnovers.
F&M LEADERS
- Gillian Brennan scored five goals and Lane Lambeth added a hat trick for the visitors.
- Lauren Pittman grabbed a game-best eight draw controls and Belle Dintino forced three W&L turnovers.
- Alyssa Moran made six stops against 17 goals.
UP NEXT
The Generals return to action on Watt field on Wednesday, February 21. The Blue and White will host No. 24 Christopher Newport University at 6 p.m. for a non-conference matchup.
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.
