LEXINGTON, Va. – The 11th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team used a seven-goal second quarter to build up an eight-goal, first half lead to claim their first win of the season, 17-9, over Washington College (Md.) on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After the game remained scoreless across the first eight minutes, junior
Joey Allen got the Generals (1-1) on the board at 6:45, before senior
Alex Brown doubled the lead just 14 seconds later. WC's (0-2) Ben Dickinson got the Shoremen on the board with 2:46 left in the first, but the Generals answered with an 8-1 run into the second quarter that left them ahead, 10-2, with seven and a half minutes left before halftime. Brown and junior
Hillis Burns led the run with two goals each, with Burns adding an assist on the run.
W&L continued its strong play in the second half, and they led by as many as 11 (17-6) after first-year
James Cardillo fed senior
Michael Jameison on a score with 4:53 left in the fourth. The Shoremen tallied their final three goals after that, each from a different scorer.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Sophomore
James Haley led the W&L offensive efforts with a career-high five points, which came on three goals and two assists. Allen and Burns had identical three-goal, one-assist performances, while Brown (3g) and senior
Sam Mannino (2g, 1a) rounded out a group of five Generals with three points or more.
First-year
Tyler Spano followed up a strong showing at the X in his debut last weekend with a 15-of-19 effort on Saturday, and he picked up 10 ground balls. Sophomore
Chris Datz and first-year
Ryan Donahue both caused two turnovers to lead the defense, and Haley followed Spano in ground balls collected with four. Sophomore
Colin Beatty and senior
Perry Kramer also picked up three ground balls.
Dickinson was the offensive leader for the Shoremen with three points, all of which were goals. Tom Merritt dished out two assists, Cory Morgan scored twice and Luke Phillips had a goal and an assist. Merritt added three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Ben Hazlehurst had a strong defensive showing of three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
In goal, W&L senior
Ryan Aljader stopped 6-of-12 shots in 50:04 of action to earn the win, while first-year
Nick De Cain saw 9:56 between the pipes. Colin Gray took the loss in the WC net, after he made nine saves and allowed 15 goals in 50:33. Will Charvala closed the game for the Shoremen and made one save.
TEAM STATS:
W&L scored at least three goals in each quarter, while holding the Shoremen to two or fewer in the first three frames, and W&L also took 10 or more shots in each period. In total, the Generals outshot the visitors, 49-36, and collected 39-of-54 ground balls in the contest. Both teams were successful on clears, as the Blue and White completed 23-of-25 attempts, to 22-of-22 for Washington College.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will face their first ODAC test of the season in their next contest, a Wednesday road trip to Bridgewater for a 4:00 p.m. opening face-off.
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.
