SALEM, Va. – Junior
James Haley turned in a huge performance on Wednesday night to lead the No. 9 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team to a 13-12 win at Roanoke, clinching the top seed for this season's ODAC Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (13-3, 9-0 ODAC) opened with two quick goals from senior
Hillis Burns and sophomore
Tyler Spano, before the Maroons (12-5, 8-2 ODAC) countered with four straight scores to gain their own two-goal lead. Sophomore
James Cardillo then scored at the 4:10 mark, before Spano won the ensuing face-off and scored once more to tie the game to start a 6-2 run for the Blue and White. The run spanned to the 11:12 mark of the second for an 8-6 W&L lead.
After a pair of man-up goals for the Maroons, Haley led a 4-1 W&L run with an assist and two goals to give his team a 12-9 lead with 7:52 left in the third, the largest lead for either team in the game. Roanoke's Blake Reiger and Julian Kammerman then both scored once over the final three minutes of the third quarter to bring the Maroons within a goal.
In the fourth, Haley tallied a vital insurance goal for the Generals at the 9:12 mark, ending a scoring drought of 10:40 for the visitors, with the assist coming from Burns. Luke Kammerman had a quick response for the Maroons with a goal just 20 seconds later, but that was the final shot to find the back of the net.
Over the final 8:52 of play, Roanoke goalie Chris Schwartz and W&L netminder
Nick De Cain combined for four saves to hold the score where it was. De Cain, whose only save in that time came with 1:07 left in regulation, helped the Generals clear their defensive half which resulted in W&L running out the remainder of the clock.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Haley tallied team highs of six points, four goals, two assists and three caused turnovers, while he also added five ground balls to propel the Generals to victory. Junior
Ben Irmscher scored three goals, all of which came in the second quarter, while Spano and senior
Jack Elliott joined Irmscher with three points each on two goals and an assist. Spano also was as strong as ever on face-offs, winning 15-of-23 (.652) with 11 ground balls.
First-year
Israel Mikkelson came on for three face-off attempts, won all three and scooped up three ground balls. Junior
Jay O'Keefe, Cardillo and sophomore
Blair Brennan and first-year
Gabe Reiter all finished with one caused turnover and two ground balls, with Brennan getting his first collegiate point on an assist to Haley at the 3:21 mark of the first quarter.
The Kammerman brothers paced the Roanoke offense at five points apiece, with Julian at four goals and an assist, and Luke with two goals and three helpers. Regier had three points on a goal and two assists, and he also caused a turnover. Logan O'Sullivan, Ike Dutton and Schwartz all caused two turnovers and combined for 10 ground balls.
In goal, both goalies played all 60 minutes, as Schwartz made 19 saves for the Maroons to 13 stops for De Cain in the W&L net.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With Wednesday's win, the Generals have clinched the ODAC Tournament's top seed and the conference regular season championship. With only one game remaining on the schedule, the Generals can finish with no more than one loss on the season, but they own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Lynchburg after the 14-13 overtime win just two weeks ago.
The Generals have now won eight straight meetings against the Maroons dating back to March 24, 2018, with five of those games being decided by three goals or fewer. Overall, the Generals have now won 24 straight regular season ODAC games.
TEAM STATS:
W&L outshot Roanoke 53-46 in the game, including 41-30 after the first quarter. The shots on goal and ground ball totals were identical at 32-25, both in favor of the Blue and White, while the Generals had 18-of-19 successful clears to only 21-of-26 for the Maroons.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will close out their 2025 regular season on Friday when they host Virginia Wesleyan at 5:00 p.m. Prior to the opening face-off, the Generals will recognize their 10-man senior class as part of Senior Day celebrations.
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.
