SALISBURY, Md. – The 13th-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team saw its 2024 season come to an end on Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament semifinals, 19-13, as No. 6 Tufts pulled away late.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (16-6) saw themselves in similar territory as the quarterfinal round to start the game, trailing by a 4-1 score through the opening five minutes. However, W&L stormed back right away with six consecutive goals to close the quarter to jump ahead, 7-4. The run was led by junior
Hillis Burns, who scored three of the six goals, along with two goals from senior
Alex Brown and a goal and two assists from sophomore
James Haley.
The Jumbos (17-3) countered with a strong second quarter in which they outscored the Blue and White, 6-1, to flip the lead back into their favor, 10-8, at halftime. Six different Tufts players scored a goal in the second, with senior
Sam Mannino tallying the W&L goal.
Senior
Jed Heald got the Generals back within a goal to open the third, scrambling from midfield to behind the Tufts cage, before scoring an acrobatic goal just outside the crease. Overall, W&L and Tufts alternated scoring the next eight goals in the game, keeping the Jumbos ahead, 14-12, with 1:34 left in the third.
Will Emsing scored for Tufts to make it a 14-12 game, which started a final 6-1 run to close things out. Brown had the final tally for the Generals, beating the third quarter buzzer to make it a 15-13 game at the time.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Haley led the W&L offense with five total points on a goal and four assists, while Brown and Burns both scored four goals and picked up three ground balls. In addition to his goal, Heald led the defense with two caused turnovers, plus one ground ball, while first-year
Tyler Spano won 16 face-offs and scooped up eight ground balls.
Charlie Tagliaferri tied Haley with five points, as he scored three goals and assisted on two. Emsing and Garrett Kelly both scored three times, with Kelly adding an assist. Parker Merril was the top face-off man on the day, with a 16-of-24, 16 ground ball performance. Kelly Logan Lee both caused two turnovers, while Kristian Rosario adding three ground balls and a caused turnover.
First-year
Nick De Cain played all 60 minutes and made 10 saves. His counterpart, Connor Garzone made 15 stops across the duration of the game.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With his 16 face-off wins, Spano broke the single-season face-off wins record of 285 set by Jack Hodgson '20 during the 2019 season. Spano concludes his impressive rookie season with 300 face-off wins on a 0.648 success rate, plus 195 ground balls.
Brown's record-break senior season ends with 76 goals following his four-goal performance. He finishes his career as the single-season scoring leader, and the fifth all-time leading goal scorer with 156 career goals. With one game remaining in the Division III men's lacrosse season, Brown leads the nation in shot percentage (goals/shot) at 0.581.
Burns' four-goal game capped off another prolific season that saw him enter the program's career points Top 10. In 48 career games played, Burns will go into his senior season tied for ninth place with Cameron Dabir '15 with 176 points (111g, 65a).
TEAM STATS:
The Jumbos finished the night with a 62-45 advantage in total shots, with a margin of 51-28 after the first quarter. Tufts also scooped up 45 ground balls to 34 for the Blue and White.
END-OF-SEASON NOTES:
The Generals conclude the 2024 season with an overall record of 16-6, tied for the second-most wins in a season in program history. W&L's appearance in Sunday's NCAA semifinals was their first since 2002, and it was the first time the program made back-to-back quarterfinals since 1998-2000.
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.
