Win the First for W&L in NCAA Play Since 2006
LEXINGTON, Va. --- The No. 15 Washington
and Lee women's lacrosse team earned its first NCAA Tournament win
since the 2006 season as it defeated Christopher Newport
University, 15-6, in first round action on Wednesday afternoon at
Watt Field.
Washington and Lee (15-4) took an early 3-1 lead in the contest,
with all three markers coming on free position shots. Senior
attackerWilton
Megargel (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield)
started the scoring at the 21:44 mark, but Christopher Newport
(13-6) responded, with an unassisted goal from senior attacker
Meghan Harkey (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley) with 19:24
remaining in the half. W&L then received free position goals
from junior attacker Maddie
McKaig (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) and senior
midfielder Emmy
Mathews (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) to assume the 3-1
advantage with 13:48 remaining in the opening stanza.
CNU senior midfielder Kaitlin Quigley (Round Hill, Va./Loudoun
Valley) scored the only other Captains goal of the half off an
assist from Harkey to pull the team back to within one goal (3-2),
but W&L used a run of four unanswered goals to close the half
and take a 7-2 lead into the break. Mathews scored three of the
Generals' four goals during the run, while junior attacker Alli
Shearin (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex Regional) added an
unassisted marker.
W&L continued its scoring streak to open the second half,
netting six unanswered goals to assume a commanding 13-2 lead with
13:51 remaining. Three quick goals from Shearin, Mathews and senior
attacker Kate
Speare (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) over a 1:34 span
pushed the W&L lead to eight goals (10-2) with 27:16 on the
clock.
Speare, first-year midfielder Meade
Brewster (Brookside, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and
first-year attacker Margaret
Klein (North Andover, Mass./Brooks) each added a goal as
W&L assumed its largest lead of the contest (13-2) with 13:51
remaining.
Christopher Newport scored three consecutive goals, including one
goal from first-year attacker Jessica Singer (Herndon, Va./Herndon)
and two goals from Harkey to pull to within eight goals, 13-5, but
it was not enough as W&L claimed the final 15-6 margin.
With the win, the Generals advance to second round action in the
NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament for the sixth time,
where they will face No. 5 Salisbury University. The Generals
dropped a 12-9 decision to then-No. 1 Salisbury earlier this
season.
The Generals were led by Mathews, who finished with six points (5g,
1a), while Speare, McKaig and Shearin each finished with two goals
and an assist. Senior defender Kathy
Brown (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) contributed a game-high
five ground balls and three caused turnovers and first-year
defender Leanne
Stone (Darien, Conn./Darien) also added three caused
turnovers. Junior midfielder Christina
Benedetti (Derwood, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) and
first-year midfielder Alex
Van Horn (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) each won a game-high
five draw controls.
In net, senior Katharine
Farrar (Lexington, Va./Episcopal) played all 60:00,
stopping five shots.
Harkey paced the Captains with four points (3g, 1a), while CNU also
received goals from Quigley, first-year attacker Jessica Singer
(Herndon, Va./Herndon)and sophomore midfielder Becca Geist
(Fairfax, Va./W.T. Woodson).
First-year keeper Hannah Wilkerson (Falls Church, Va./Falls Church)
played the duration, recording eight saves in the loss.
W&L returns to action on Saturday in second round action,
facing No. 5 Salisbury University at 11:30 am at SeaGull
Stadium.
This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee
University sports information department.