LEXINGTON, Va. – The ninth-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team went into its annual mid-April break on a high note on Wednesday, defeating ODAC foe Averett by a 28-0 final at Wilson Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (11-3, 7-0 ODAC) raced out to an 11-0 lead through one quarter of play, before tacking on nine more goals in the second for a 20-goal halftime lead. Sophomore
Sam Bassett, who got the start on the attack, was one of three Generals with two, first-quarter goals, and he added three assists in the opening period for a team-high five points. Junior
Jack Todd and sophomore
Jack Booth also scored twice in the first 15 minutes.
Seniors
Justin Le and
A.J. Levitt, along with sophomore
John Lane, led the second-quarter scoring with two goals each, while sophomore
Ben Irmscher dished out three assists, all of which came on consecutive goals from 5:20 to 3:03 remaining in the frame. Booth scored the half's final goal right at the buzzer off a feed from Levitt.
Levitt and classmate
Nick Lipsher paced the second-half scoring with two more goals apiece, with Levitt adding an assist to sophomore
Ethan Villamater. Lipsher's two scores were the final two tallies of the game and came on assists from Le and first-year
Thomas Moxley.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Four Generals recorded at least five points in the game, led by a career-high six points from Levitt, which came on a career-best four goals and two assists. Bassett (2g, 3a), sophomore
James Haley (1g, 4a) and Le (4g, 1a) rounded out the five-point performers, while Irmscher (3a), Booth (3g, 1a), Todd (2g, 2a) and Lane (3g) all logged at least three points.
Four Generals got time on face-offs, as they combined to win 27-of-30 in the game, and none lost more than one. Senior
Will Bou was a quartet-best 11-of-12 with nine ground balls, while senior
Nick Tussing and Moxley both went 6-of-7, with Moxley adding six ground balls to his assist. First-year
Tyler Spano took four face-offs, won all four, and scooped up three ground balls.
Junior
Mikel Zahralddin caused a W&L-high two turnovers to lead the defense, while seniors
Archie Perry and
Michael Jameison both turned in a four-ground ball, one-caused turnover line. Collectively, the W&L defensive unit allowed just three shots and none on target.
In goal, all five rostered goalies saw time between the pipes. First-year
Nick De Cain started and played the first 10:09 to earn the win. Senior
Ryan Aljader played a team-high of 19:51, while junior
Keene Cornick and sophomore
Ryan Boyd nearly split 24:46 down the middle. First-year
John Nagy finished out the final 5:14.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Wednesday's meeting between the Generals and Cougars marked the second in the all-time series. W&L now holds a 59-1 combined scoring margin across the two games after a 31-1 win on April 15 last season.
With two goals, senior
Alex Brown moved within two scores of tying Dave Warfield '75 (131) for the fifth-most goals scored in program history. Brown can also move into the single-season Top 5 with four more, which would tie Rob Morgan's 53-goal season in 1975.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the day with a 59-3 advantage in total shot attempts, which included 28-0 in the first quarter. The Cougars turned the ball over 24 times and were successful on just 8-of-18 clear attempts, to 10 turnovers and 21-of-22 on clears for the Blue and White. W&L also outgained Averett, 50-10, in ground balls.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will break from competition for eight days before traveling to Randolph on Friday, April 19, for a 6:00 p.m. start against the WildCats.
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.
