BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The No. 19 Washington and Lee men's lacrosse exploded to outscore Bridgewater 12-2 in the second half, as the Generals ran away with a 20-8 win on the road on Wednesday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After an evenly-matched first quarter that had the game tied, 3-3, heading the second, the Generals (7-5, 4-1 ODAC) scored three goals in the first 93 seconds of the second quarter to take a 6-3 lead.
- The Eagles (8-4, 2-3 ODAC) stayed in it, scoring three of the game's next four goals to get back within a score by the 3:45 mark. Bridgewater held W&L without a goal for nearly 11 minutes of play, before senior Byron Newman got on the board with 2:35 left for an 8-6 halftime lead.
- W&L opened the third the same as the second, with three consecutive goals on two points each from first-years Garrett Ferguson and Luke Caldwell. After a Ryan Linn goal for the Eagles at 3:59, the Generals answered with three goals in a 70-second span to close the third, before four more goals to open the fourth.
- Luke Wendler tallied the Eagles' final goal with 6:30 left in regulation to make it an 18-8 game, before junior Andrew Keller (4:41) and senior Jack Booth (1:13) scored once each to put the finishing touches on the win.
TOP PERFORMERS:
- Caldwell paced the W&L offense with seven points on five goals and two assists, followed by senior James Haley (2g, 2a) at four points. Ferguson (3g) and first-year Tucker Davis (2g, 1a) both had three points, with 10 more players registering at least one point.
- The W&L face-off unit dominated throughout the game, going a combined 25-of-31 (.806). Sophomore Israel Mikkelson went 14-of-16 with 12 ground balls to lead the way, with first-year Hunter Hodges adding 8-of-10 and six ground balls. Junior Thomas Moxley won 3-of-5 face-offs and picked up two ground balls.
- Sophomore goalie JJ Kim led W&L with three caused turnovers, while senior Colin Beatty and sophomore Gabe Reiter both logged two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
- Kim played 55:19 of the game, made nine save and picked up four ground balls in the winning effort. First-year Zach Rosenberg covered the final 4:41 and stopped the only shot he faced.
- Isaac Beals led five Eagles players to score multiple points with four of his own on three goals and an assist. Linn and Jake Wagner both had three, with Luke Wendler and Tristan Lee at two.
- Wyatt McNamara led all players with five caused turnovers to go along with six ground balls, while BC goalie Ian Cook made 15 saves.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- With his four points, Haley tied Colin Dougherty '00 (224) for sixth on the program's career points list. Haley needs two more to tie Ande Jenkins '97 for fifth and 10 more to tie Don Carroll '76 for fourth.
TEAM STATS:
- The Generals outshot the Eagles 55-23 in total shots and 35-18 in attempts on goal. Ground balls also favored the visitors, 60-28.
- W&L committed five fewer turnovers than the Eagles and ended the game 28-of-30 on clear attempts.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return home for their next game, as they take on Hampden-Sydney on Saturday at 1:00 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.
