LEXINGTON, Va. --- The top-seeded Washington and Lee University women's lacrosse team claimed the program's 23 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship trophy in 26 trips to the title game with a 16-9 win over second-seeded Roanoke College on Sunday afternoon.
The No. 2 Generals (18-1), who have made 22 consecutive appearances in the championship game, won their 13th straight title thanks to a 3-0 and 4-0 run in the second half and pulled away from the No. 16 Maroons (15-3).
RC struck first with a Grace Koutouskis unassisted goal, the first of her four on the day. Then, the two teams traded the first four goals before a Ginny Taylor (Madison, N.J. / Madison) free position goal put W&L ahead 4-3. The home team was able to hold off Roanoke in a battle that endured a 50-minute lightning-delay at the 10:18 mark in the third quarter.
Hanna Bishop (Bronxville, N.Y. / Bronxville) and Jenny Lisovicz (Glen Ridge, N.J. / Glen Ridge) scored back-to-back to end the first half and Walker McKnight (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall) opened up the third stanza with a tally to pull ahead 10-6. Roanoke's Libby Bowman responded with an unassisted goal at the 10:18 mark in the third quarter, right as the clouds opened and the officials put a pause on play.
Out of the break, the Generals widened the gap and scored five of the next six goals to close out the game and led by as many as seven, 15-8, off another Taylor unassisted goal at 14:07.
Bishop scored a game-high five goals and added an assist for six points to crack the career 200-point milestone. Allie Schwab (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Harriton) dished out three helpers and scored one of her own for four points. Ten Generals found the back of the net on Championship Sunday and dominated the 50-50 loose ball opportunities. W&L owned a 21-2 advantage on groundballs and pulled in 16 draw controls to Ronaoke's 12. Eugenie Rovegno (Duxbury, Mass. / Duxbury) had seven draw controls and forced three turnovers. Lisovicz got called onto the circle after the rain delay and grabbed four DCs in the 25 minutes of action.
The Blue and White caused 10 turnovers and held Roanoke to 23 shots but Roanoke's keeper came up with an impressive 14 saves off 42 shots from the home team.
Caroline Kranich (State College, Pa. / Mercersberg) made five stops while gaining another mark in the win column. On the defensive end, Rovegno scooped up four groundballs and Bishop, McKnight, and Shannon Timoney (Mendham, N.J. / West Morris Mendham) each had three.
Bishop, Lisovich, Rovegno, and Kranich represented the Generals on the ODAC All-Tournament team.
The Generals earned the ODAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships and will find out their tournament destination and opponents on Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. on the NCAA Selection Show.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Randolph-Macon: Lilly Fowler
- Randolph-Macon: Evie McNeally
- Shenandoah: Ainsley Buckner
- Shenandoah: Ashley MacFarlane
- Roanoke: Lilly Blair
- Roanoke: Kyleigh Chickering
- Roanoke: Grace Koutouzis
- Washington and Lee: Hanna Bishop
- Washington and Lee: Caroline Kranich
- Washington and Lee: Jenny Lisovicz
- Washington and Lee: Eurenie Rovegno