LEXINGTON, Va. – The 12th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team ended the game on an 8-3 run to turn a three-goal, third-quarter deficit into a 13-11 victory over No. 18 Denison on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Denison's (2-2) Clyde Bresnahan found the back of the net with 9:16 remaining in the third quarter to give his side an 8-5 lead, which tied its largest of the game. At the 7:30 mark, W&L (3-1) junior
Joey Allen tallied a goal, which spurred a 4-0 run to put the Generals ahead for the first time. The first three goals of the run came in a 59-second span, with Allen adding assists on each of the final two goals.
The Big Red answered with a goal each from Kevin Berutich and Jack Hines to close the third-quarter scoring, but W&L held the visitors to just one goal in the fourth quarter, while scoring four of its own to lock down the win. Junior
Hillis Burns scored twice for the Blue and White in the final 15 minutes, with Allen notching his third assist of the game.
Denison got rolling early with the first two goals of the day and a 4-1 lead with 11:39 left in the second quarter. The Generals answered their first three-goal deficit with three straight scores in a span of 3:16, but the Big Red fought right back with three consecutive scores as well. First-year
Andrew Keller then notched the first W&L goal of the third quarter to make it a 7-5 Denison lead, ahead of Bresnahan's goal at 9:16.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Allen posted a W&L-high four points and three assists to lead the offense, while Burns and senior
Alex Brown both had three points on three goals. Junior
Jack Elliott (1g, 1a) and sophomore
James Haley (2g) rounded out the Generals to record multiple points on the day. First-year
Tyler Spano took all 27 face-offs for the Blue and White, and he finished with 14 wins and 10 ground balls.
Brown added a team-best two caused turnovers and picked up two ground balls, while first-year goalie
Nick De Cain scooped up three ground balls for the second-highest total on the team. Sophomore
Chris Datz matched Brown's two ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Haley, senior
Jed Heald, juniors
Matthew Ezzell and
Riley Albregts, sophomore
Elliot Cohen and first-year
Ryan Donahue all had at least one ground ball and a caused turnover.
Denison's Luke Fisher dished out four assists for a team-high four points, while Nate Kay (3g) and Berutich (2g, 1a) followed with three points apiece. Owen Holder led the defense with four ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Andrew Randall contributed a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls.
De Cain made his first collegiate start on Sunday and made nine saves while playing the duration of the game. Andrew Albert minded the net for all 60 minutes for the Big Red and stopped nine shots as well.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals' win over Denison on Sunday marked the first occurrence in the all-time series that W&L defeated Denison in consecutive meetings after a 12-9 win in Granville last season. Denison holds a slight 4-3 record in the last seven matchups, all of which have been decided by six goals or fewer.
TEAM STATS:
Washington and Lee edged the Big Red in both total shots (47-37) and ground balls (35-33), but Denison took advantage of three man-up opportunities with two scores, to 0-of-2 from W&L. The Generals also had a higher clear percentage (.917) than the Big Red (.778).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will get back on the field next Saturday, March 9, at sixth-ranked Gettysburg for a 1:00 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.
