LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 10 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team stepped into ODAC play for first time this season on Wednesday night and defeated Shenandoah by a final score of 19-7.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Hornets (3-5, 0-1 ODAC) held a slight 2-1 lead through the first six minutes of play, but a couple of
Ben Irmscher goals gave W&L (5-2, 1-0 ODAC) its final lead of the game and kickstarted a run of 11 straight scores. First-year
Jack Dalton led the run with three goals and three assists, with Irmscher and sophomore
James Cardillo both scoring twice.
That 11-0 run left the Generals ahead, 12-2, by the 6:50 mark of the second quarter, before the Hornets showed life with three consecutive goals spanning into the third quarter. W&L needed a final response of six straight goals to put the game away, however, getting goals from six different players, including two assists from Irmscher and two more points from Dalton.
Dalton put a stamp on his breakout game with 32 seconds remaining in the game when he assisted first-year
Willy Carpenter on the game's final goal and his ninth point of the night.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Dalton's season-high nine points came on four goals and five assists, with Irmscher totaling a career-high five points on three goals and two assists. Senior
Riley Albregts (2g, 1a), Cardillo (2g, 1a), junior
Sam Bassett (2g) and first-year
Robert Bath (1g, 1a) rounded out the six Generals players with multiple points.
Sophomore
Thomas Moxley shined as the Generals' primary face-off specialist for the night, as he won 20-of-22 to go along with 13 ground balls. First-year
Israel Mikkelson came on for six face-offs, winning four, scooping four ground balls and tallying an assist, while first-year
Jax Lou split a pair of face-off chances.
Nine different Generals caused one turnover each, with junior
Chris Datz picking up a defense-high three ground balls. Sophomore
Nick De Cain got the win in goal after making three saves in the first half. First-year
JJ Kim played the next 24:33 of the second half and also made three saves, before junior
Ryan Boyd covered the final 5:27 and made one save.
Cody Griffis led the Hornets with five points on four goals and an assist, followed by two goals and a helper from Jake Green and two assists from Dylan Taylor. Dylan Pencek led the team with three ground balls, and goalie Mark Isabelle made 22 saves across the 60 minutes of action.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Dalton's nine-point outburst marks the first nine-point performance by a General since Hudson Pokorny '23 logged 10 at Averett on April 15, 2023. Additionally, Dalton's nine points are the most in a single game for a first-year player for the program since at least the 2008 season.
Moxley's strong game helped W&L continue its dominance on face-offs this season. Through seven games, the Generals have combined to win 70.2 percent (132-188) of their face-offs this season. Entering the day, that percentage would rank 15th in Division III.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals finished the night with a 70-26 advantage in total shots after taking 15 or more in each quarter. They also got to 55 ground balls, compared to just 14 for the Hornets, while going successful on all 13 clear attempts. Shenandoah turned the ball over 18 times, eight more than W&L, and completed 18-of-24 clears.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Guilford for a 1:00 p.m. opening face-off against the Quakers.
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.
