ASHLAND, Va. – Senior
James Haley totaled six points on Saturday night, but the No. 17 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team fell by a final score of 10-8 against Randolph-Macon, snapping its 28-game ODAC winning streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Yellow Jackets (8-2, 2-1 ODAC) scored three of the game's first four goals for an early lead, with the Generals' tally coming at the 8:44 mark from first-year Tucker Davis.
- Haley looked to give W&L a spark with his first goal of the game with just six seconds left in the first quarter, but Randolph-Macon responded by tallying four of the first five goals of the second quarter to run its lead to 7-3 with two minutes remaining.
- After an RMC turnover in the waning seconds of the second quarter, Haley restarted play with the ball near midfield and had no other option than to try his luck. Haley ripped a shot from just inside midfield and it found its way into the back of the net to make it a 7-4 game.
- Haley added his third goal of the game in the third quarter, but two Yellow Jacket goals made it a 9-5 game heading to the fourth.
- In the fourth quarter, Haley scored early to get the game back within three, but RMC regained its four-goal advantage with five minutes left on a score from Andrew Bergesen. The Generals managed to score twice in the final 66 seconds, but the Jackets won the final face-off of the game and ran out the final 37 seconds.
TOP PERFORMERS:
- Haley's six points came on the strength of four goals and two assists, and he added a ground ball and a caused turnover to his line. Senior Elliot Cohen scored twice, plus one goal each from Davis and first-year Garrett Ferguson to round out the W&L scoring.
- Sophomore Israel Mikkelson led the way on face-offs, going 10-of-16 with seven ground balls. First-year Hunter Hodges contributed three face-off wins in four tries.
- Seniors Chris Datz and Jay O'Keefe highlighted the W&L defensive efforts. Datz led with three caused turnovers and three ground balls, while O'Keefe had two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
- Bergesen paced the RMC offense with five points on five goals, while Matt Carter, Logan Sinsebox and Grant Johns all had two points. Nick Harrington, Brodie Kent and Mike Allen each had two caused turnovers to lead the defense.
- Jack Isaacs made 11 saves in the Randolph-Macon goal to claim the win, while sophomore JJ Kim stopped nine shots for W&L. Both goalies played all 60 minutes.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saturday's result marked W&L's first regular season loss against an ODAC opponent since March 29, 2023, which was an 11-10, quadruple-overtime loss at Hampden-Sydney.
- Haley continued his recent points surge, as his six tallies put him at 220 for his career. He has at least five points in five of the last six games and six straight four-point performances or better.
TEAM STATS:
- The Yellow Jackets took 34 shots in the game to 28 for the Generals. Both teams put 19 attempts on goal.
- W&L held a 29-23 advantage in ground balls and had a 0.950 (19-20) clear rate. Randolph-Macon was successful on 20-of-22 (0.909) clear attempts.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will get back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Bridgewater College for a 4:00 p.m. opening face-off against the Eagles.
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.
