LEXINGTON, Va. --- A final 3-0 run over the remaining nine minutes of play propelled the ninth-ranked Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team past Grove City, 13-10, on Sunday and into the NCAA Quarterfinals.
After two straight GCC (11-9) goals knotted the score at 10, W&L (18-4) had an immediate answer with a face-off win that created a fastbreak opportunity, which led to sophomore Hillis Burns (Louisville, Ky. / St. Xavier) finding junior Alex Brown (Norwalk, Conn. / Taft School) from close range just 10 seconds after the Wolverines' score.
The score remained at an 11-10 W&L advantage for nearly six minutes, as Grove City mustered just two shots and turned the ball over four times in that stretch. Burns then padded the lead to two with 3:26 to play on an assist from senior Hudson Pokorny (Darien, Conn. / Darien). Less than 90 seconds later, Burns scored again from sophomore Joey Allen (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) to give the Generals their final three-goal lead with 2:01 on the clock. Defensively, the Generals allowed just five shots throughout the fourth quarter and forced six turnovers.
W&L jumped out to a 2-0 lead inside the first four minutes of play on unassisted goals from sophomore Jack Elliott (Suffolk, Va. / Norfolk Academy) and Brown. The Wolverines countered, however, with a 4-1 run to move out to a 4-3 lead in the early going of the second quarter. Brown then equalized with 13:14 left before the half, and the teams went on to alternate four scores each until the score sat tied at eight with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.
Elliott scored again in the waning seconds of the third quarter on a feed from junior Sam Mannino (Fair Haven, N.J. / Rumson Fair Haven), before Allen helped Mannino find the back of the net with 13:08 left in the fourth for W&L's 10-8 lead.
Brown and Mannino combined for eight points on seven goals and an assist to lead the W&L offense. Brown's four goals marked his sixth game this season with at least three, while Mannino tied his season high in points (4) and goals (3). Burns and Pokorny each finished with three points, as Burns scored twice and Pokorny dished out three assists. With 58 assists now this season, Pokorny has the seventh-highest total in Division III.
Junior Will Bou (Chevy Chase, Md. / Landon) and senior Matt Gallagher (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass) dominated on face-offs, winning a combined 21-of-26 (.808) with six ground balls. Bou led the way with a 16-for-20 (.800), five ground-ball performance to Gallagher's 5-of-6 (.833) effort.
Senior Boots Lackey paced the defense with a game-high seven ground balls, in addition to two caused turnovers, with first-year Chris Datz (West Chester, Pa. / Malvern Preparatory School) the only other General with at least one ground ball (1) and caused turnover (2). Senior Harris Hubbard (Madison, Miss. / Highland Park (Texas)) tied Lackey and Datz with two caused turnovers. In goal, senior Warren Seeds (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster) earned the win after he made nine saves across the 60 minutes of action.
Luke Jayne and Matt Blythe were GCC's offensive leads with three points each on a combined four goals. Boden Davidson (2a), Zachary Hougan (2g) and Trey Zabroski (1g, 1a) added two points each. Sam Stevenson forced a game-high four turnovers and Ryan Evans added two caused turnovers and a ground ball. Brock Simmons scooped up four ground balls and caused one turnover.
Jack Petit performed strongly between the pipes for the Wolverines, as he made 14 saves on 27 shots in 58:46 of action.
W&L took double-digit shots in every quarter and ended the game with a 45-36 margin in that category. The Blue and White also got to 34 ground balls to 27 for Grove City.
The Generals will appear in the national quarterfinals for the first time since the 2004 season on Saturday, when they travel to No. 2 Salisbury for a 12:00 pm opening face-off.