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Thursday, May 11
W&L Laxmen Win ODAC In Thriller
The Washington and Lee University men’s lacrosse team avenged a pair of overtime losses from the regular season on its way to claiming the program’s 12th Old Dominion Athletic Conference title.
In Saturday’s championship, the third-seeded and ninth-ranked Generals (16-4) overcame top seed and 11th-ranked Lynchburg (13-6) to secure a 12-11 road victory.
Will Schnorr and Jack Elliott scored back-to-back goals in the fourth quarter to break a 10-10 tie and give W&L a 12-10 advantage with just 3:01 remaining. Dylan Wolfe pulled one back for the Hornets with 2:11 to play, but the Generals were able to hang on for the win.
Hillis Burns totaled two goals and three assists for W&L, while Elliott finished with three goals and one helper and Warren Seeds made 11 saves. Jake Rust notched a hat trick and Riley Mitchell added two goals and two assists for Lynchburg, with Tyler Hadley recording 12 stops in goal.
The Generals had fallen 14-13 in overtime to the Hornets in Lexington in the regular-season contest back on March 25. Four days after that game, W&L dropped an 11-10 heartbreaker in four extra sessions to Hampden-Sydney.
But the Generals settled that score in even more emphatic fashion on the road in Thursday’s ODAC semifinals, routing the second-seeded Tigers 16-4.
Hudson Pokorny scored four goals in the semifinal game, breaking the single-season program record for points in the process. The senior now has 95 points this spring, eclipsing the mark of 91 set by A.J. Witherell in 2018. Earlier this year, Pokorny broke Don Carroll’s 47-year-old single-season assist record; he now has 51 helpers.
Burns chipped in two goals and two assists and Seeds registered eight saves in the semifinal win. Patrick Hanes scored twice for Hampden-Sydney (13-5).
With the ODAC title, W&L has earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. W&L will play host to Centre College in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday at noon at Wilson Field in Lexington. For updates, visit www.generalssports.com.
W&L Women Win 13th Straight ODAC Lax Title
The top-seeded and second-ranked W&L women’s lacrosse team scored its 13th consecutive ODAC championship with a 16-9 victory over No. 2 seed and 16th-ranked Roanoke at Watt Field on Sunday.
Hanna Bishop tallied five goals and one assist to pace the Generals (18-1), while Allie Schwab recorded one goal and three assists. Grace Koutouzis led the Maroons (15-3) with four goals and one assist, and Kyleigh Chickering made 14 saves.
W&L was ahead 10-7 early in the third quarter when the game was halted due to lightning. After a lengthy weather delay, the Generals scored five of the next six goals to take an insurmountable 15-8 lead.
Ginny Taylor and Walker McKnight chipped in two goals apiece for W&L, which has claimed every conference title dating back to the 2010 season. The Generals have won 23 ODAC championships overall.
W&L advanced to the title game with a convincing 18-6 home semifinal victory over fifth-seeded Randolph-Macon on Friday night. The Generals scored the first nine goals of the game and led 12-2 at halftime against the Yellow Jackets (10-10).
Seven different W&L players notched at least two goals, paced by two goals and three assists from Bishop and a hat trick from Shannon Timoney.
Additionally, Schwab had two goals and one assist to become just the second player in program history to total 100 goals and 100 assists in her career. The senior All-American has 121 goals and 103 assists in 62 games for W&L.
The Generals will now make their 22nd appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. W&L will play host for a Capital or Transylvania in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday at Alston Parker Watt Field at 1 p.m. For updates, visit www.generalssports.com.
W&L Tennis Teams Compete In NCAAs
After winning the ODAC titles, the W&L men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The W&L men, who beat Averett 5-0 for the ODAC title on April 30 in Lexington, had a bye in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 16 N.C. Wesleyan 5-1 on Saturday in Rocky Mount, N.C.
The Generals concluded team play with a record of 17-6, but sophomore Erb will continue his season individually at the NCAA Division III Singles Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. His first-round match will be on Thursday, May 18.
The W&L women, who earned a 5-0 home win over Sweet Briar in the ODAC finals on April 30, defeated N.C. Wesleyan 5-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday before falling to No. 7 Emory in the second round on Saturday. Both matches were in Lexington.
The Generals concluded team play with a 19-7 record, but freshman Lauren Long will continue her season individually at the NCAA Division III Singles Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Her first-round match will be on Friday, May 19.
VMI’s Jenkins SoCon Player Of Month
Virginia Military Institute junior right fielder Cole Jenkins was named the Southern Conference's Baseball Player of the Month for April.
Jenkins smashed his way through April, hitting .534 in 17 games with 25 runs and 24 RBI. He blasted eight homers, four doubles and three triples and stole six bases in eight attempts. He had a .570 on base percentage and a 1.000 slugging mark. Jenkins was the Perfect Game/Rawlings National and SoCon Player of the Week on April 10.
The Mechanicsville, Va. native ranks in the top 10 in numerous SoCon statistical categories, including batting average (.391 – fourth), slugging percentage (.710 - third), hits (66- fourth), RBI (45 - tied for fifth), doubles (15 – tied for second), home runs (11 – tied for eighth) and total bases (120 – third).
