LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior
Elliot Cohen tallied the game-winning goal in overtime from close range following a pass from junior
James Haley to clinch the No. 9 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team's 13th ODAC Tournament championship, 13-12, on Saturday afternoon over No. 14 Lynchburg.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
With the game tied at 12 after a Riley Hastings goal for the Hornets (13-6) with 2:57 left in regulation, the Generals (16-3) were able to hold for the final shot, but a Haley attempt was stopped by Andrew Miller in goal with three seconds left.
In the extra period, sophomore
Tyler Spano won the opening face-off to set the Generals up to win the game without the Hornets gaining possession. The Generals managed four shots on that possession, but each missed the target. After the fourth attempt, W&L maintained control of the ball with just four seconds left on the shot clock, when sophomore
James Cardillo was found unmarked on the back post. Cardillo looked to end the game there, but Miller came up with another huge stop to keep the game going.
With Lynchburg now in control and riding recent momentum from the fourth quarter, the Hornets called a timeout to setup a potential game-winning play. Out of the stoppage, junior
Jay O'Keefe, as he did throughout the game, continued to pester the Lynchburg offense when he forced Liam Holman into a turnover, his seventh caused turnover. O'Keefe scooped up the ground ball, before Haley was needed to keep the fastbreak alive with a ground ball of his own. Haley then looked to shoot but instead passed inside to Cohen in front of the crease where Cohen scored with a backhanded shot to end the game.
The Generals surged ahead by a 6-2 score through one quarter on the strength of two Haley goals plus one each from Cardillo, Spano and seniors
Jack Elliott and
Joey Allen. The Hornets then scored with under a second to play in the first quarter, which ignited their offense to tally the next two goals over the first three minutes of the second to make it a 6-5 W&L lead.
In what ended up being another classic between two ODAC powerhouses, neither W&L nor Lynchburg managed to score more than two consecutive goals the rest of the game. In fact, the Hornets outscored the Generals, 3-2, in the second, third and fourth quarters to slowly claw their way back into the game, with Hastings' score in the fourth ultimately tying it up at 12.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Haley led the team with five points on three goals and two assists, while Allen and Elliott both finished the day with three points on two goals and one helper. Cardillo and senior
Hillis Burns rounded out the multi-point Generals with two each. Spano went 15-for-26 on face-offs, picked up 14 ground balls and also scored a goal for the W&L offense.
O'Keefe had a monster day on defense, as he caused seven turnovers and picked up six ground balls. Junior
Ethan Villamater, sophomore
Spencer Surface and first-years
Gabe Reiter and
Robert Bath each contributed one caused turnover, with Villamater also scoring once.
Sophomore goalie
Nick De Cain played all 62:29 in goal for the Generals and made 13 saves to earn the win. De Cain was especially locked in during the second half with 10 saves.
Four Hornets tallied three points apiece to lead their offense, as Holman scored once and had two assists and Hastings, Spencer Vandenberg and Jake Rust all had two goals and one assist. Sam Steele caused a team-high two turnovers and Riley Frankel paced Lynchburg with seven ground balls. Miller also covered all 62:29 in goal, matched De Cain's 13 saves and got to five ground balls.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Saturday's win marked the Generals' second ODAC Tournament championship in the last three years, with both coming over the Hornets. The final result also nearly matched the two teams' regular season meeting when W&L topped Lynchburg, 14-13, in overtime on April 9.
Haley's third and final goal of the game, which came with 9:36 left in the second quarter, went down as the 100th of his career. Haley has now produced 162 points in 51 career games.
O'Keefe's seven caused turnovers were not only a new career high, but it was the most caused turnovers in a game by an individual General since Andrew Fusselbaugh '13 also forced seven in a March 27, 2013, against Lynchburg.
TEAM STATS:
W&L held the shot attempts (52-39), shots on goal (26-25) and ground balls (42-31) advantages in the game. Lynchburg committed 17 turnovers and was successful on 23-of-26 clears, while W&L turned the ball over 14 times and completed 22-of-24 clear attempts.
UP NEXT:
With their win, the Generals earned the ODAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship. They will find out when and who they play during the selection show on Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. on
ncaa.com.
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.
