LYNCHBURG, Va. – Six goals from senior
Alex Brown, including three in an eight-goal first quarter, propelled the No. 13 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team past Lake Forest, 17-4, in the Round of 32 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (14-5) came out firing in their first action in nine days, as senior
Leif Smith scored two of the team's first three goals within the first five minutes of the game. Senior
Sam Mannino and first-year
Ryan Donahue followed with one score each to make it a five-goal lead ahead of the eight-minute mark, before Brown scored the final three goals of the opening frame to help W&L build an 8-0 lead.
Chas Dean got the Foresters (16-3) on the board next, but the Generals countered with a 3-1 run from three different scorers to close the half up by a score of 11-2. Brown, who scored the first half's final goal, scored twice more to open the third to round out his six-goal effort, before first-year
James Cardillo and junior
Riley Albregts gave the Generals a 13-goal lead at the 10:17 mark of the third with one goal each.
Only four goals were scored over the final 20:16 of action, two from both teams, with W&L's largest lead being 13 goals (three times).
TOP PERFORMERS:
Brown's six-goal game extended his multi-goal streak to 21 games, and it was his fifth game this season with at least five goals. Sophomore
Sam Bassett tallied the second-most points on the team with three, all assists, while Smith, Cardillo and junior
Jack Todd each scored two goals. First-year
Tyler Spano took 11 of the team's 23 face-offs in the game, and he continued his strong play for the year with nine more wins to go along with two ground balls.
Sophomore
Chris Datz and first-year goalie
Nick De Cain led the defensive efforts for the Blue and White, as Datz caused three turnovers and picked up three ground balls, while De Cain stopped 8-of-11 shots across 50:46 of action.
Four players logged points for the Foresters, with John Casey (2g) being the only multi-point scorer. Conor Murphy paced the defense with three caused turnovers and seven ground balls, and Andrew Widlar made 13 saves in goal in the losing effort.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
After breaking the W&L men's lacrosse program record for goals in a season in the ODAC semifinals, Brown bolstered his season mark to 68 with his six-piece on Saturday.
Senior
Will Bou won 5-of-10 face-off attempts in the game, to move past Tom Super '99 (480) for the sixth-most face-off wins in program history. Bou now has 484 face-off wins on a 0.616 career winning percentage, and he can jump into the career Top 5 with six more wins (Seldon Clarke '09 – 489).
TEAM STATS:
W&L took double-digit shots and picked up double-digit ground balls in all four quarters, holding positive margins in total shots (48-31) and ground balls (46-27). Lake Forest turned the ball over 27 times, which resulted in a plus-eight margin for the Blue and White.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will meet ODAC-rival and 10th-ranked Lynchburg on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. The regular season meeting between the Generals and Hornets resulted in a 10-9 W&L win in Lynchburg.
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.
