LEXINGTON, Va. – Despite getting six goals from senior
Hillis Burns, the No. 10 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end on Monday night, 18-13, in the eighth annual Virginia Lacrosse the Nations Cup against fourth-ranked Christopher Newport.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In a strong back-and-forth between both teams in the first quarter, it was the Generals (8-3) who pulled ahead by a 5-4 margin through one quarter of play. W&L held leads at 1-0, 3-2, 4-3 and finally 5-4 heading to the second behind three goals from Burns.
Across the second and third quarters, the Captains (12-1) managed to outscore W&L, 11-4, to flip the game in their favor, 15-9. CNU allowed consecutive goals just once during that span, while having three separate runs of 3-0, 4-0 and 3-0 to build up their lead. Kevin Miller led the Captains with three goals, with five of his teammates also finding the back of the net.
The Generals continued to fight until the very end, beginning with two fourth-quarter goals to close their deficit to four with 11:57 remaining. The Captains countered with another two goals, before first-year
Jack Dalton scored at 2:20 and assisted sophomore
James Cardillo 44 seconds later to close W&L's scoring.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Burns ended the night with six goals, just one away from tying his career high, and he has now scored 11 goals over the last two games. Burns was the only W&L player to score multiple times, with Dalton, Cardillo, junior
Colin Beatty and senior
Jack Elliott all having one goal and one assist apiece. Sophomore
Tyler Spano won 16-of-29 face-offs to lead the team, in addition to 11 ground balls.
Junior
Chris Datz led the defense with two caused turnovers and two ground balls, with six other Generals causing one turnover each. Junior
Jay O'Keefe (4) and first-year
Gabe Reiter (3) also finished among the team leaders in ground balls. In goal, first-year
JJ Kim played all 60 minutes and made nine saves. Kim also caused a turnover, scooped up two ground balls and recorded an assist on an
Ethan Villamater goal at the 11:57 mark of the fourth.
Miller led all players in the game with seven points on three goals and four assists, in addition to two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Jamie Smith scored four times, Brett Jackson had three goals and a helper, and Fred Fulkerson found the back of the net three times. Warner Cabaniss took a majority of CNU's face-offs on the night and won 15-of-28 with eight ground balls.
AJ Rosacker and Colin DeGrassi both caused a pair of turnovers for the CNU defense, while Zack Sands and Daniel Siaton combining for seven ground balls. Mason Bellinger earned the win in the Christopher Newport goal after making 10 saves in 60 minutes.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Burns' recent scoring outburst has propelled him past Dave Warfield '75 (131) and into sixth place on the program's all-time goals list. Burns has 136 career goals in 57 games and can move up another spot with another 21 goals. In nine games this season, Burns is averaging career highs in goals per game (2.8) and points per game (5.0).
Spano's 16 face-off wins moved him past Sandy Harrison '88 (447) for eighth place in program history. Now with 457, Spano trails Tom Super '99 (480) for seventh.
Kim's assist to Villamater in the fourth quarter marked the first point recorded by a W&L goalie since Nick Spagnoletti '22 had one in a 19-4 win at Shenandoah on April 27, 2022.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals outshot the Captains, 44-34, in the game, but CNU put 27 of its 34 shots on goal compared to 23-of-44 for the Blue and White. Both teams picked up 32 ground balls and failed only three clear attempts (WLU – 25/28, CNU – 16/19).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be in ODAC play for the remainder of the regular season, starting with a road contest at Randolph on Wednesday at 4:00 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.
