LEXINGTON, Va. – The No. 10 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team got off to a fast start on Wednesday night to pick up their fifth consecutive win, 18-8, over Bridgewater.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After each team traded a goal apiece in the opening 3:10, the Generals (7-2, 3-0 ODAC) tallied four straight goals in a span of 1:49 to take a 5-1 lead by the 6:49 mark, with a goal and assist coming from senior
Riley Albregts. The Eagles (3-7, 1-2 ODAC) responded by scoring two of the final three goals of the first quarter, before W&L scored all five second-quarter goals for an 11-3 halftime lead.
The 5-0 run in the second quarter was part of an overall 8-1 run that spanned to the 10:37 mark of the third, which left the hosts up, 14-4. In that time, senior
Joey Allen and junior
James Haley scored twice each, with senior
Hillis Burns contributing a team-best four points on a goal and three helpers.
Scoring was even at four goals per side over the final 21:49, with neither team scoring more than twice consecutively. Junior
Colin Beatty, sophomores
Harrison Hanson and
Andrew Keller, and junior
Jack Booth logged the final four scores for the Generals, with junior
Ben Irmscher adding an assist on Beatty's score.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Burns led W&L with five points on one goal and four assists, while senior
Jack Elliott paced the offense with three goals. Allen and Haley posted two goals and an assist each, with Albregts and first-year
Jack Dalton at one goal and one assist apiece to round out the Generals with multiple points. Sophomore
Tyler Spano highlighted W&L's face-offs by going 12-of-13 with nine ground balls.
Junior
Jay O'Keefe caused two turnovers to lead the defense, and he picked up one ground ball, with junior
Elliot Cohen and sophomores
James Cardillo and
Ryan Donahue all causing one turnover and picking up multiple ground balls. Sophomore
Nick De Cain was credited with the win in goal after he made three saves in 33:47 of action. First-year
JJ Kim covered the next 20:33 and stopped 5-of-8 shots, with junior
Ryan Boyd playing the final 5:40 and making one save.
Jake Wagner scored a Bridgewater-high three goals, followed by Luke Wendler at two. Tyler Pinto had two assists and Finnegan Pulich had a goal and an assist. Nico Marsicano and CJ McKnight both notched three ground balls and a caused turnover, and goalie Gabe Wallman made 16 saves across the 60 minutes of action.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals' win over the Eagles on Wednesday marked their 18th consecutive regular season ODAC win, with their last loss coming in a quadruple overtime marathon at Hampden-Sydney on March 29, 2023 (L, 10-11). Out of those 18 wins, 13 have been by double-digits, including three over Bridgewater.
Spano continued his domination at the X for the season after his 12-of-13 performance against Bridgewater. He has now won 72.2 percent (127-176) of his face-offs this season and needs 21 more wins to pass Sandy Harrison '88 for the eighth-most face-off wins in program history.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals outshot the Eagles, 56-32, on the night, including 50-17 across the first three quarters, in addition to winning the ground ball battle, 52-24. Bridgewater committed four more turnovers than the Generals (18-14) and went 17-of-21 on clear attempts, compared to 15-of-17 for the Blue and White.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to play on Saturday when they travel to Hampden-Sydney for a 1:00 p.m. start.
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.
