LEXINGTON, Va. -- The seventh-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team will face-off against Scranton in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Wilson Field on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. in the teams' second-ever matchup against each other.
 
The Generals are 16-3 overall this season and earned the ODAC's automatic bid into this year's championship tournament with a 13-12 overtime win against No. 14 Lynchburg in the conference championship game last weekend. W&L will be making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and looks for another deep tournament run after a quarterfinal finish in 2023 and a semifinal berth last season. In their only prior meeting, the Generals topped the Royals, 22-2, on April 2, 1991, in Lexington.
 
W&L is led into the weekend by their five First Team All-ODAC players in seniors Hillis Burns and Jack Elliott, juniors Elliot Cohen and Chris Datz and 2025 ODAC Offensive Player of the Year Tyler Spano. Burns, the ODAC's Scholar Athlete of the Year, is tied for the W&L lead in points (65) and leads in assists (28), while Spano has turned in another impressive season on face-offs, winning 266-of-370 (.719) with 181 ground balls and eight points in 18 games.
 
Elliott has produced 37 points in the midfield for the Generals, while senior Joey Allen and junior James Haley, both Second Team All-ODAC, round out the Generals with at least 30 points. Allen has scored 25 goals and dished out 13 assists this season, while Haley is tied with Burns atop the points leaderboard but leads the team outright with 45 goals.
 
Datz is joined on the starting unit by All-ODAC Second Teamer in junior Jay O'Keefe to lead the W&L defensive efforts. Datz has caused 19 turnovers and scooped up 52 ground balls on the season, while O'Keefe leads the Generals with 30 ground balls, including a career-high seven in the ODAC title game against Lynchburg. In goal, sophomore Nick De Cain has covered 784:45 and owns a 0.520 save percentage and 10.1 goals-against average. De Cain has elevated his play in recent games with a 0.549 save percentage and three straight games with 13 saves.
 
Scranton's season has been highlighted by recovering from an 0-8 start to rattle off 12 consecutive wins, including a 10-6 victory in the Landmark Conference championship game and a 20-8 win over Immaculata in the NCAA First Round. Individually, the Royals' offense is paced by Kyle Holmes, Quinn Carson, Jason Kozak and Myles McCutcheon. Holmes leads the squad in points (52) and goals (45), followed by Carson at 36 goals and 13 assists. Kozak leads the team with 15 assists and McCutcheon has provided an additional 40 points on 27 goals and 13 helpers.
 
The Scranton defense is led by Landmark Conference Defensive Player of the Year Zachariah Palinkas, who has caused 23 turnovers and gotten to 46 ground balls. Connor Cole has also been effective defensively with 24 turnovers caused and 47 ground balls. John O'Connor paces the face-off unit with a 0.506 percentage (178-352), and Carsen Kirchner figures to handle duties between the pipes, having played 1,046:36 with a 0.584 save percentage and 9.34 goals-against average.
 
The winner of the W&L/Scranton game will advance to Sunday's NCAA Round of 16 and take on the advancing team between No. 10 Gettysburg and No. 14 Stevens.
 
The Bullets, an at-large team after falling against No. 16 Dickinson in the Centennial Conference championship, features three 40-point performers and five with at least 30 points, with Jack Dunleavy at a team-high 64 points on 33 goals and 31 assists. Jackson Barroll, the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, is next with 34 goals and eight assists, with Charlie Johnson having compiled 40 points on 29 goals and 11 assists.
 
Face-offs have been platooned between Tate Kuster and Cisco Celotto for the Bullets this season, with Kuster owning a 0.555 win rate (121-218) to a 0.506 percentage (79-156) for Celotto. Andy Marquet (25) and Will Hedley (24) are the Gettysburg leaders in caused turnovers, with Murphy Hoey in goal and yielding a 9.35 GAA and 0.513 save percentage across 930:48.
 
Stevens rolled through the MAC Freedom Tournament, getting a 23-9 win over Misericordia in the semifinals and a 20-5 victory over DeSales in the championship game. The Ducks, who claimed 12 all-conference citations, also brought home six of the conference's major awards, are led into the weekend by MAC Freedom Coach of the Year Gene Peluso.
 
Matthew Pergola, the conference's Attacker of the Year, is tied with Tommy Robertozzi for the team lead in points (78) on 53 goals and 25 assists. Luke Lesizza, the MAC Freedom Defenseman of the Year, anchors the Stevens defense with 41 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers, with conference Goalie of the Year Cooper Foote stopping 56.3 percent of shots faced for a 7.66 GAA in 916:08.
 
The Ducks' award winners are rounded out by Midfielder of the Year in Finlay MacKnight, who has 38 points (12g, 26a) and 18 ground balls, and Rookie of the Year in Hudson Rocheville who has totaled 11 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, plus four points (2g, 2a). Stevens also trots out three players for its face-offs in Jackson Penn, Will Giarrusso and Bastian Chorazykiewicz. Chorazykiewicz leads the trio in win percentage at 0.754 on 89 wins in 118 attempts. Penn and Giarrusso have both taken 155 this season, with Penn edging Giarrusso in wins, 94-91.
 
The two winning teams from Saturday's games will face-off at Wilson Field on Sunday at 3:00 pm with a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals next weekend on the line. Live stats and video will be provided for all three games this weekend. Tickets will be sold on-site through HomeTown Ticketing, but fans are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time here.
 

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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.