No. 8 Washington and Lee No Match for Eagles

By NICK NELSON

With a chill in the air and intermittent rain, the University of Mary Washington women’s lacrosse team pulled off a titanic upset against No. eight Washington and Lee, the Eagles narrowly edging the Generals 10-9.

The women had come into Saturday’s matchup with a strong start to the season, at 4-2 overall and a perfect 2-0 in Capital Athletic Conference matchups. The win sent them to 5-2 on the season, while Washington and Lee fell to 3-2 overall.

The win also let the Eagles avenge a tough loss to Washington and Lee from last season, when the Generals were No. seven in the country.

This year’s game showed off the power of a young team with 11 freshmen, as well as the experience brought in by seniors Emily Gallugi, Julia Milner and Kate Tarr.

Freshman attacker Allie Kimmelman in particular led the Eagle attack, with a barrage of five goals and an assist. Sophomore Katie Wallis also had a strong afternoon with four goals.

“We haven’t beaten [Washington and Lee] in a while. It’s always close,” Coach Dana Hall said. “It was a great game against one of our biggest rivals. Beating the eighth-ranked team shows people that we can play anyone.”

“We have 11 freshmen, and they really contributed today and really came together with the upperclassmen,” Hall said.

The scoring opened in favor of the Generals, as junior Meredith Freeman scored with 28 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the first half. Not to be outdone, the Eagles responded with a pair of goals by Wallis within the next six minutes of gameplay. The Generals tied it up again with 20 minutes and 37 seconds remaingin, but the Eagles pushed the lead to 4-2 with goals by Kimmelman and Wallis. After a 2-1 scoring run by the Generals, Eagles went into the halftime intermission leading 5-4.

Scoring came fast and furious in the second half, and the Eagles were not able to gain a solid advantage with just over 21 minutes left in the game, as they took a two-goal lead with Kimmelman’s third goal of the game. However, the Generals were determined, and tied the score at eight before Kimmelman returned with her fourth and fifth goals of the game.

The final goal came by the generals with a little of two minutes remaining in the game, but it was not enough as the Washington and Lee Generals were forced to make the 139-mile drive home with heavy hearts and disappointed minds.

The numbers proved an absolute flurry of offense, as the Eagles outshot the Generals by a margin of 26-18 and held the ground ball advantage 28-23.

Freshman goalie Danni Guigli notched seven saves for the Eagles, while Washington and Lee’s double-team of freshman Jennifer Lindner and sophomore Katharine Farrar combined for seven saves as well.

Looking forward, Hall hopes to keep a positive attitude the rest of the way.

“We are looking to take everything one game at a time,” Hall said. “That’s going to be the best way to prepare.”

The next game on the schedule was played yesterday at home against Randolph-Macon College, but the results came in too late for print.

Looking forward, the Eagles have a game on the road against Dickinson College tomorrow and then a game at home this Saturday at one against Hood College in a Capital Athletic Conference matchup.