GRANVILLE, Ohio – A late rally from the No. 4 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team was met by a Denison response, as the Generals fell by a 14-12 final in a tight, back-and-forth contest on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (2-1) scored the first two goals of the game from sophomore
James Cardillo and junior
James Haley, before the Big Red (3-1) produced a 5-1 run into the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead. W&L answered with three consecutive goals from senior
Joey Allen, junior
Sam Bassett and Haley in just a 2:29 span, but Denison tallied the final two goals of the half for a 7-6 lead.
Both teams scored three goals in the third to keep it a one-goal Denison advantage heading to the fourth. The Generals scored the first two from Allen and Haley, followed by three Big Red goals and another goal from Allen with just 11 seconds remaining in the period.
Allen's goal in the final seconds of the third was the first in a 4-1 W&L run into the fourth quarter that vaulted the Generals in the lead, 12-11, with 8:57 left in regulation. Haley had two scores to lead the way plus one each from Bassett and junior
Jay O'Keefe. The Big Red tied things up just over two minutes later, however, when Michael Cassidy scored at 6:49, followed by two more goals at 5:46 and 4:20 to close out the scoring.
Both teams got two shots off each over the final 4:20 of play, with only a
Hillis Burns attempt with 10 seconds left going on goal. Over the course of the entire game, neither team led by more than two goals.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Haley led the W&L offense with five points, all of which were goals, followed by four points on three goals and an assist from Allen. Burns had three points, all assists, while Bassett and first-year
Robert Bath rounded out the multi-point Generals with two each. Among goalscorers, Burns led the team with three ground balls plus a caused turnover.
Sophomore
Tyler Spano won 14-of-24 face-offs and scooped up 13 ground balls for a game high. Senior
Matthew Ezzell led all Generals with two caused turnovers, with O'Keefe and sophomores
Nick De Cain,
Spencer Surface and
Blair Brennan all recording one ground ball and caused turnover each. O'Keefe's caused turnover came in the fourth quarter as he knocked the ball loose in the Denison defensive half, picked up the ground ball, spun past a defender and scored to make it a 10-10 game at the time.
Macky Peck and Collin Murphy led the Big Red with seven goals combined, plus three points on two goals and an assist from Tommy Quinson. Quinson also caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls, with Grant Larson, Colin Swanson and Colin MacLean each at three ground balls.
In goal, De Cain made six saves across all 60 minutes of action, while Denison keeper Andrew Albert stopped 11 shots in 60 minutes, including five in the third quarter, to claim the win.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Burns' three-point performance boosted his career total to 190, which puts him just one behind Sam Englehart '73 for eighth-most points in program history. He remains tied with Colin Dougherty '00 for 10th on the program's all-time goals list (115).
TEAM STATS:
W&L outshot the Big Red by a final total of 45-36, while also committing two fewer turnovers than Denison (11-9). The Blue and White cleared at a 12-of-14 clip to 17-of-21 for the Big Red.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action on Saturday, March 8, when they host 11th-ranked Gettysburg at 1:00 p.m.
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.
