Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/19/24
From Press Release
After trailing by as many as seven goals in the first half, junior Hillis Burns scored 46 seconds into overtime to complete a furious comeback and send the 13th-ranked Washington and Lee men’s lacrosse team past top-ranked and host Salisbury in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday.
Sophomore defenseman Chris Datz (Malvern Prep) and freshman goalie Nick De Cain (Radnor) played key roles in the win. Datz had five groundballs and De Cain had 12 saves and five groundballs. Also, short-stick midfielders Mikel Zahralddin (Episcopal Academy, 1GB) and Henry Reed (Shipley School) took shifts.
The Generals will matchup against No. 6 Tufts in tonight’s NCAA Semifinal game, after the Jumbos downed St. John Fisher, 16-6, on Saturday evening. Opening face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Salisbury’s Sea Gull Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (16-5) entered the third quarter trailing 10-6, after making some noise in the second quarter to start their comeback. Salisbury’s (21-1) Chris Wong (Salesianum School, 2G, 1A, 4GB) scored the opening goal in the third, but first-year Tyler Spano put a jolt into the W&L offense by winning the ensuing face-off and taking it straight down the field for a goal. Junior Jack Elliott then scored a minute and a half later, followed by another Spano goal off the draw to get W&L to an 11-9 deficit.
A Ty Keaton goal ended the Generals’ scoring run, but it was short-lived as the Generals rattled off six straight scores across the final five and a half minutes of the third to race ahead, 15-12. In total, Spano led the scoring in the quarter with three goals to help the Blue and White outscore the Sea Gulls, 9-2.
The fourth quarter was the lowest-scoring frame of the game, with the Salisbury defense locking down on the Generals to allow no goals in the quarter, while scoring three times in the final five minutes to tie the game. The equalizer came with 34 seconds remaining in regulation from Jack Dowd.
The overtime period saw one, singular possession thanks to the superb play of Spano. The first-year face-off specialist won the draw and looked to take another one down the field, before backing it out and allowing the offense to setup a play. Senior Sam Mannino drove in on the right side, but was forced away from the middle of the field by a defender. Mannino gave the ball up to sophomore James Haley behind the goal on the right side, who swung the ball to his right to Burns. Burns hit the defense with a stutter step, reversed field to his left and scored in the top left corner of the frame to send the Generals on.
Salisbury struck early and often, racing out to a 5-1 lead through one quarter before another three goals came to start the second quarter. Trailing by an 8-1 score, W&L senior Leif Smith sparked a 4-1 W&L run with a man-up goal at the 6:28 mark. SU’s Jude Brown tried cushioning his side’s lead with a goal at 1:46, but Burns came up with a response for the Generals just 21 seconds later to keep it a four-goal game at the half.
Burns led the Generals’ offense with five points on four goals and an assist, with Spano’s three goals following. Elliott tallied three points (2g, 1a), while Haley, Mannino, Smith and senior Alex Brown all notched two points. Spano won 20-of-33 draws in the game and scooped up 13 ground balls. Haley and Brown also combined for nine ground balls.
Junior Riley Albregts and sophomore Jay O’Keefe led the W&L defense with two caused turnovers each, plus five combined ground balls. De Cain played all 60:46 in the game and stopped 12-of-27 shots. However, De Cain saved seven shots after the half while allowing only five goals.
Keaton and Jude Brown paced the Salisbury offense with five points each, as the pair combined for five goals and five assists. John DeFazio led the defense with three caused turnovers and seven ground balls, and Nicholas Ransom made 11 saves on 27 shots in 60:46.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals’ win on Saturday ended a couple of lengthy winning streaks for the Sea Gulls. It snapped an overall 41-game winning streak spanning back to March 4 of last season, and it was their first loss at home since May 19, 2019 (57 games). Interestingly, the Sea Gulls’ 41-game winning streak started and ended with a 16-15, overtime result against an ODAC school (Lynchburg).
W&L will make its first NCAA Semifinal appearance on Sunday since 2002, and it will be just the fourth time in program history appearing in the Division III semifinals.
