Senior Craig Rentch en route to scoring what would be decisive goal against W&L.
Courtesy of WC Sports Information
Lacrosse usually produces game scores that mirror that of a good football game. 14-7, 17-10, 14-13. When two powerhouses like the Shoremen and Washington and Lee meet, however, that usually all changes.
In 2001, the Generals came to Kibler field and defeated Washington, 4-2. This time around, in Lexington, Va, the Shoremen handed out the beating, winning 9-8 on a cold, wintery day.
With the win, then ranked #5 W&L dropped to 2-1 overall, while the #10 Shoremen bettered their record to 2-0.
Freshman Alex Pirani, Washington's netminder, made 16 saves to help his team in the win, even though the Generals outshot the Shoremen 40 to 18.
Five first quarter goals, with the help of sophomore Stephen "Whop" Berger, were scored for the Shoremen. Berger led the team on the day with a hat-trick of goals. This gave the team a good cushion throughout the rest of the game.
"The game against Washington and Lee was very intense, but all of the games we play this year will be tough," said Berger.
"Everyone all around has been clicking on the team," He added.
The Shoremen started scoring early in the game as junior attackman Eric Kuehn scored off of an assist by senior attackman Jon Fellows within the first few minutes of play. Senior Craig Rentch followed Kuehn as he helped give the team a 2-0 lead one minute later on an unassisted goal. These two goals went unanswered until five minutes remained in the quarter when Washington and Lee scored their first goal on an unassisted tally.
Berger followed the General's first goal as he scored his first of three goals of the day when four minutes remained in the quarter. Berger scored his second goal at the three minute mark and assisted a goal by Rentch with nine seconds left in the quarter. This gave the team a 5-1 lead after only fifteen minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the Generals attempted to rally as they scored three goals back-to-back-to-back bringing themselves within one goal of Washington.
The Shoremen immediately stepped up and answered back with a pair of goals by senior midfielder Brad Hopkins and Kuehn, who was assisted by Rentch. As six minutes remained, Washington and Lee scored another goal to cut the margin by two, but Fellows came in with an unassisted tally to give Washington an 8-5 lead at the half.
Both teams were fighting for it in the third quarter, but neither managed to score. The Generals got on the scoreboard as 10 minutes remained in the game in the last quarter.
Kuehn responded to this as eight minutes remained, which gave Washington a 9-6 advantage as he scored off a rebound. Washington and Lee tried to come back, but they were only able to score two more goals, which put Washington ahead by one. Pirani saved the last shot on the Shoremen's goal in the final seconds to secure the win.
The Shoremen will be in action tomorrow, in a home game against Nazareth at 1:30 p.m., who is currently ranked third in the nation.
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