LEXINGTON, Va. --- The top-seeded Washington and Lee women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 5-0 lead and produced a 7-3 victory over second-seeded Randolph-Macon in the championship game of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament on Sunday at Watt Field.
The victory gives W&L a 16-1 overall record, just one win shy of the school record for wins in a season. It was also the Generals' eighth straight conference title and 18th overall ODAC crown.
Senior attacker Hayley Soutter (McLean, Va. / Langley) scored the first three goals of the game to spot the Generals a 3-0 advantage at the 12:59 mark of the first half.
Sophomore midfielder Cordelia Peters (Larkspur, Calif. / Hotchkiss) fed Soutter for the first goal at the 25:51 mark and then junior attacker Jess Castelo (Red Bank, N.J. / Lawrenceville) found Soutter on the doorstep for another goal just 1:13 later. Her third goal came on a free position shot with 12:59 left in the half.
Senior midfielder Olivia Sisson (Great Falls, Va. / Langley) fed senior midfielder Maggie Waxter (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park) cutting to the goal for a score at 4:07 and Sisson then fired home a shot off of a Peters assist just 18 seconds later for the 5-0 lead.
W&L first-year goalkeeper Elliot Gilbert (Bedford, N.Y. / Deerfield Academy) made three stellar point-blank saves in the opening 30 minutes to keep the Yellow Jackets (11-6) off the scoreboard, but R-MC broke through with 42 seconds left on a goal by sophomore attacker Saunders Riley off an assist from first-year attacker Mary Castle.
Randolph-Macon controlled possession for a good amount of the opening 20 minutes of the second half and cut it to a 5-2 game just 2:10 into the second stanza on a goal by senior attacker Jessie Cornbrooks off an assist from senior midfielder Laney Dee.
The Generals continued to hold R-MC in check despite spending a lot of time on the defensive end, and Sisson gave W&L a little breathing room with a transition goal at the 11:20 mark for a 6-2 lead.
Senior midfielder Susie Snee scored man-up from Cornbrooks with 8:45 left, but Castelo once again gave the Generals a four-goal advantage with an unassisted goal at 5:09. From there, W&L primarily played keep away from the Yellow Jackets and ran out the clock for the victory.
For the game, W&L limited Randolph-Macon to just nine shots, holding a 25-9 advantage in that category. The Generals also won the ground ball battle, 25-12, and the Blue & White forced 16 turnovers, many of which occurred in the midfield on clears.
Soutter led the offense with the three goals, while Sisson had two goals and one assist. Castelo added one goal and one assist and Gilbert notched four saves in goal.
Cornbrooks paced the Yellow Jackets with one goal and one assist. Senior Allie Walker had a solid game in goal, keeping R-MC in the contest with eight saves.
Washington and Lee receives the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and will find out who it will face this evening at 9:30 pm.
--- This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee University sports information department. ---
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