W&L finishes season ranked 10th in NCAA South Region Rankings

In the last published regional rankings of the season W&L is ranked 10th in the South Region. This ranking, unlike the coaches poll, uses specific primary criteria to help determine the rankings. It is these rankings that are used to decide Pool B (independant) and Pool C (at large) tournament bids.

A regional advisory committee of 8 members and two NCAA Championship Committee members serving as advisors collaborate to determine these regional rankings. The primary criteris used for determine the rankings is in region win/loss %, Overall strength of schedule.

Wasington and Lee finished the season with a 9-7 in region record. The Generals also held one of the highest Strength of Schedule ratings in the south region.

For more information on the regional rankings please click on the following link:

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse-men/d3

ALL ODAC TEAMS ANNOUNCED

Senior Attackman Spence Daw, Sr. Long Stick Midfielder Thomas Jenkins, Senior Close Defenseman Austin Wernecke, Senior Goal Keeper Ned Lundvall and Sophomore Close Defenseman Joe LaSala were all recently selected to the ALL ODAC Men’s Lacrosse Team. Spence, Thomas, Austin and Joe were all 1st team selections and Ned was a second team selection.

We are proud of these guys for garnering such well deserved recognition.

For more on the ALL ODAC team you can click on the following link:
http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/releases/201105033ivmki

POST GAME SUMMARY – ODAC SEMIFINAL

Your Generals dropped a heartbreaker at home last Saturday night to Lyncburg College in the ODAC Semi-finals. The final score was 9-7. It was a well played game by both teams that could have swung either way. We played tough defense for most of the game. An very early run for Lynchburg gave them a 2-0 lead. For nearly the rest of the game it was an even boxing match. I think the goal Lynchburg scored with 00:00.2 seconds left on the clock at the end of the 3rd quarter hurt our momentum.

There were many bright spots for us. We cleared the ball very well. We only turned the ball over 11 times on the day. We held them scoreless in extra man situations. I thought we were dangerous in transition.

We needed to convert more of our extra man opportunities. We were 1 for 5 on the day. Lynchburg’s defense was very good all day. We had to earn all of our shots with good offense or transition. We have been averaging nearly 40 shots a game and in this game we shot only 28 times. Lynchburg has a 1st team all-odac face-off specialist. In our 4-3 win over Lynchburg in the regular season we won just 1 face-off. We battled him hard all day and won 7 of 19. We had good opportunities to win a few more but did not come up with the critical ground ball.

We certainly had great scoring opportunities down the stretch. We scored on 25% of our shots and put 71% of our shots on the goal. It is no secret that capitalizing on good scoring chances has been an achilles heal for us all season.

It was a disappointing end to our season. In a few weeks, after I have had some time to decompress and evaluate the season as a whole I will sit down and write a season in review wrap up of my thoughts.

12 seniors will graduate from this team. They all made great contributions to our program over the last 4 years. They were integral in helping us win a conference championship in 2009 and a great run in the NCAA tournament. This group helped the program earn 45 wins (not counting 3 Lee Jackson Classic Victories). Academically they were incredibly strong and all of them are on their way to successful careers in their field of choice. We great appreciate all they have given to our lacrosse program. I thank them for their excellent leadership a nd commitment to Generals Lacrosse. We miss them already.

~ Coach McCabe

GENERALS RANKED #10 in NCAA Regional Rankings

Here is a link to the NCAA regional rankings. The rankings are based on a number of variables but some of the primary criteria are  in region winning % and over all strength of schedule. The regional rankings are important because they help determine the at large pool C bids for the NCAA tournament.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse-men/d3

THE ODAC TOURNAMENT IS HERE!

After a long and windy regular season your Generals are headed inot the ODAC tournament as teh # 2 seed. Earning the #2 seed allowed us to earn a much neede mid-week bye. We will host the winner of the Randolph Macon vs Lynchburg game. The semifinal game will be at home on Saturday night, April 30th at 7 PM.

Here is a link for more information:

http://www.odaconline.com/tournament/spring/mlax/2011tournament/042411-champprev

DOWN THE STRETCH- Late season game summaries

DOWN THE STRETCH

Game 12: W&L 13-Randolph 4

On a weird weather afternoon on Wilson Field your Generals rebounded from a 2 game losing streak with a decisive 13-4 win over a feisty Randolph College team. We jumped on them early scoring 4 goals in the first period. In the second quarter we were able to maintain our offensive momentum scoring 5 more goals. Our defense was stifling most of the day. Randolph changed their defensive scheme early in the first half to a very compressed zone defense. We produced plenty of shots but we were not consistently on the mark. We need to shoot at a higher percentage and be more patient against these types of zones. Overall it was a very good day for the Generals. I was very pleased with the energy the team started with and maintained throughout the game. The win was critical because it earned is our 4^th conference win and put us in a position to stay in first place.

http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-RAND.HTM

Game 13: W&L 10 Roanoke 19

Your Generals traveled to Salem on a Wednesday night to take on a very hot Roanoke team. We limped into this game with a number of key players on the sidelines with injuries. As I am every year, I was also concerned about the impact the heavy academic work load would have on our energy levels. We were in the last week of the semester and finals were looming around the corner.

We played a tough first quarter. Both teams traded punches. We were able to establish some good offensive possessions. Roanoke turned the ball over 9 times in the first period which allowed us to have extra possession time. At the end of the 1^st quarter the score was 3-2 in Noke’s favor.

We stumbled into the 2^nd quarter and Roanoke came out firing on all cylinders. We had said going into the game that a priority was to stop their transition offense. Well, we did not execute this part of the game plan. Roanoke scored 7 goals on the period and at halftime we were down 5 (10-5).

We made some adjustments at halftime. It was clear that there was still a lot of fight left in us. I thought the seniors did a good job rallying the troops and keeping guys energized for a second half battle. Unfortunately we were just not as sharp as we typically are on defense and we allowed 7 more goals in the 3^rd period. We produced 4 goals of our own on good offensive possessions but this is not the kind of team you can afford to get in a points race with. We buckled down even more in the 4^th period but by then it was to large a margin to erase.

This was clearly not our day.

http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-RAND.HTM

Game 14: W&L 6   Virginia Wesleyan 11

After a 10 day break for final exams your Generals traveled over to Virginia Beach to play conference rival Virginia Wesleyan.

We scored first and looked very good defensively early on in the first quarter. We allowed two unsettled goals in the quarter and 3 goals total in the period. We were not as sharp as I had hoped but overall I thought we were playing competitive lacrosse.

The second quarter was one we would all love to forget. We allow 5 goals in the period while we struggled to put balls in the net. We seemed to be disorganized on defense and with each goal we allowed VA Wes was gaining more confidence. We took 11 shots in the period. The goalie made 5 saves and we missed the cage 6 times. We were also struggling on face-offs. At halftime the score was 8-1.  Admittedly we were a bit stunned         by what just happened.

We made challenged the defense to play tougher and do the things that have always made us a good defense. I spoke to the offense. I told them that we liked all of the shots they were generating but they need to make smarter decision with shot placement. More importantly I encouraged them to make sure the shots were on the cage.

Both teams started slow in the second half. Our defense was started to gain momentum. They forced a number of turnovers or we made good saves to give us good scoring opportunities. We shut them out in the 3^rd and scored 3 of our to closed the game to 8-4. We scored first in the 4^th to make the score 8-5. I really felt like we had all of the momentum. We were winning face-offs with tough wing play and we were starting to wear down the opposing defense. Three consecutive penalties against us hurt our momentum as Virginia Wesleyan would score on all 3 extra man opportunities. We scored one more late but the gap was too large for us given the possession time we did not have due to the penalty calls.

This was a tough loss. We had a chance to secure the 2^nd seed on the tournament with this win. Our team was disappointed but resolved to get back to work during April Break.

http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-VWC.HTM

APRIL BREAK WEEK

We believed this was a critical week for us. The break from the academic pressures allowed our guys to rest. The weather was very nice and the energy around the team was very good despite all of the adversity we had faced to this point.

As a staff we wanted to use the week to really get better at some things and to bring some personnel along in hopes to bolster our offensive production and defensive depth.

We used each day of practice to spend extra time on shooting. We competed very hard against each other all week. We also focused a great deal on transition offense and defensive situations. We believed that emphasis in these areas would help us down the stretch.

Game 15: W&L 14    Greensboro 5

Your Generals traveled to Greensboro College for a non-conference match up on a Wednesday afternoon. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Our first quarter play was not as beautiful. Offensively it looked like we were going to be in good shape. However we still looked sluggish on defense to start the game. At the end of the first quarter we were down 3-2. We made some between quarter adjustments on defense and settled on. We shut them out in the second period and scored 3 more to take a 5-3 lead at the half.

At halftime we challenged our guys even more. I sensed that we were starting to get some confidence back in our game. There was a good energy in the huddles and some of our offensive schemes seemed to be clicking. We encourage our guys to keep shooting and good things were about to happen. The end result was positive. We outscored Greensboro 9-2 in the second half. We were able to get almost everyone in the game. We scored on close to 30% of our shots. This is a considerable improvement from previous games. We were also able to generate some good transition/unsettled scoring opportunities. The win secured our 8^th victory of the season and gave us the momentum we needed going into our final game of the regular season against conference opponent Randolph Macon.

http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-GBOR.HTM

Game 16: W&L 12    Randolph Macon 8

We had a lot riding on this game. A win would secure a first round bye and a home game as the #2 seed in the ODAC tournament. It was also senior day and an opportunity for us to recognize the 12 great seniors who have given so much to our program over the last four seasons.

Your Generals came out firing. We scored 5 goals in the first quarter and built a solid 5-1 lead. We were really sharp in all areas of the field.  A big factor was our ability to win face-offs and clear the ball. We created goals in transition and in 6 v 6 and played good defense over long possessions to hold off a very talented Macon offensive unit.

The tide turned quickly however in the second quarter as we Macon found their offensive groove and we seemed to be caught on our heals. Macon scored 6 goals to our 1 in the period to take a 7-6 lead at halftime.

We challenged our defense to play tougher on the ball against their middies. We made a switch to put two long poles on their middies. We encourage our offense to keep putting the pressure on their defense and good things would happen.

The defense responded in the 3^rd quarter shutting them out. In fact, the defense allowed just 1 goal over the final 30 minutes of play. We only scored one goal in the 3^rd period but it was a big one as it forced a tie going into the 4^th period.

We had told our team going into the game that if we played tough over 4 quarters we could break the game open. I think our depth and determination and pressure paid off. We created turnovers in the ride and executed a number of very good offensive possessions. In the first 5 minutes of play in the period we scored 4 goals. We did not allow Macon to score until the 3:18 mark left on the clock.

Final score was W&L 12 and Macon 8.

The 4^th annual Lindsey Award was announced at halftime of the game. I am proud to announce that Senior Gerard Savarese was selected as this years recipient. We also honored Senior Spence Daw’s mother during the game. Jori Daw lost her life after a courageous battle with cancer. We are collecting donations in Jori’s memory that will be given to the Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

It was a great day to be a General!

http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-RMC.HTM

W&L vs Middlebury Game Highlights provided by Inside Lacrosse

Here are some good highlights of our game against Middlebur
Tuesday night at Georgetown University. Footage provided by
Inside Lacrosse.

http://video.insidelacrosse.com/video/view/76996701/middlebury-vs-washington-and-lee

POST GAME SUMMARIES: GAME 9, 10 & 11

POST GAME SUMMARY – GAMES 9, 10 & 11

Game 9: Guilford

Dominating defense for 60 minutes was the key to an 11-1 Generals victory. The game started 30 minutes sooner than it was supposed to in order to avoid the thunder and lightning. We had some momentum with a 4-0 at the end of the 1^st quarter. Then lighting and thunder came. After an hour long delay we resumed play. I think the delay hurt both teams rhythm on offense. We rode very well and played very sound, aggressive defense all day long. Our offense struggle to find goals in the second quarter and most of the third quarter but we eventually regained some rhythm and wore done a very stubborn Guilford defense. We were able to play most of our guys in this game. This was an important mid-week ODAC contest because we wanted to be 2-0 in our conference going into our big game against Lynchburg.

Game 10: W&L 4  LYNCHBURG 3

Your Generals earned a pivotal ODAC win on Saturday afternoon at home. The game was played on the Astro-Turf stadium because there was a huge track festival taking place in the stadium. Despite the score both teams attack aggressively on offense the entire day. Both teams played tough defense throughout the day. I think our win came down to winning some tough ground balls when it mattered the most, playing great TEAM defense for the entire game, and possessing the ball well on offense most of the game. We also cleared the ball well and rode very hard. On the day we only turned the ball over 17 times to Lynchburg’s 30 times. Of those 30 turnovers 17 of them were caused takeaways. We earned a critical man up goal and at the end of the game held off Lynchburg’s EMO chance with 12 seconds left to play to secure the win.

This game can only be described as an EPIC ODAC Battle.

I cannot say enough about how proud I am of this team. We have demonstrated tremendous toughness, determination and character in the face of a lot of adversity. We have grown stronger as a team with each passing day and we continue to improve as lacrosse players. I believe in our players and they believe in each other.

It is great to be 3-0 in the conference but we know we have a lot more ODAC play still in front of us and thus a lot more to prove and to earn!
GAME 11: Middlebury

Your Generals travelled to Georgetown University to play Middlebury College on Tuesday night. We lost this game 6-5. Our defense was dominant throughout the game. We sacrificed 2 goals off of face-off situations early in the first quarter. We gave up a goal in EMO. We allowed 2 earned 6 v 6 settled situation goals and in a fluke play a shot hit one of our defensemen causing it to take an odd angle into the goal.

On offense we came out hungry and firing on all cylinders to build a 4-2 and eventual 5-3 lead at half. This was a lead we held onto until 2 minutes remained in the 3^rd quarter. Unfortunately we did not do a great job in the second half sustaining good quality possessions in the second half. This led to long defensive stands which in turned led to 3 goals in remaining 17 minutes of play. We did not do well on face-offs but we did dominate all other groundball situations. Our team defense held a very potent Middlebury offense in check for most of the game. In the end we had 4 or 5 great scoring opportunities to tie the game. We narrowly missed the goal on most of them and the Middlebury goalie made a good save at the end to secure the win.

Credit must be given to Middlebury. Their defense, like ours was very impressed. We took just 28 shots on the day. We need to generate at least 10 more shots against this caliber of team to win. This would have likely been the case if we had sustained possessions in the second half.

We are obviously disappointed with this loss. We know we can play ball with the best in the country. I believe we deserve to be ranked in the top 20. We have proven we can beat teams in the top 10-20 in the country. With a little more effort, sustained commitment to improvement, and faith in what we are doing I believe we can beat any of the top 10 teams in the country. Ultimately, it must be proven on the field.

POST GAME SUMMARIES Game 7 & 8

Game 7 : Kenyon

Your Generals pushed the pedal down in the second half of this game and defeated the Lords of Kenyon College by a score of 13-7.

We started slow on defense and allowed 4 goals in the first quarter. Three of these goals were scored off of situations where we put the ball on the ground but did not pick the ball up. We put ourselves out of position defensively. Basically, too many of our guys to the ball without coming up with it lead to unsettled, eneven scoring opportunities.

On the other end of the field we came out firing and put 17 shots on, in, or near the goal. The Kenyon goalie withstood the barrage with 7 saves in the quarter. We notched 3 and missed the cage another 7 times.

Defensively we clamped down on Kenyon for the rest of game. We scored two goals in the second to take a 5-4 lead at halftime.

We talked to our guys about refusing to lose and challenged them to win the groundball battles in the second half. I was pleased with our second half effort. We scored 4 in each quarter and allowed just 3 goals and in the final 3 quarters and only 8 total shots in the second half. We also dominated the gorund ball game in the 4th quarter.

I think the early season battles prepared us well for the challenges in this game. Our team turned the corner is some ways during this game. They showed resiliency and composure and over the course of 4 quarters showed they can play tough and determined lacrosse.

This game was a big momentum builder for our first ODAC contest against Hampden-Sydney.

Box score for the Kenyon Game: http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-KEN.HTM 

GAME 8: Hampden-Sydney

Your Generals earned a HUGE road win on Saturday, March 19 against conference rival Hampden-Syndey College. The final scored was 9-8.

This was a hard fought battle from the first whistle. Both teams landed punches early on. Both teams took advantage of some defensive miscues early in the game. At the end of the first quarter the score was 4-3 in favor of the Tigers. At this point we challenged the defense to play smarter on the ball defense. On the offensive end the guys were able to see that if they were patient and executed both the game plan and the fundamentals well they would get good looks at the cage.

The Tigers scored twice and really controlled a good part of the second quarter to build a 6-3 lead. We earned a nice man up goal off a hard ride and a savvy individual effort to close the score to 6-4. That is how the first half ended despite both teams having good scoring opportunities. Our goalie play was solid and our defense really settled in.

In the 3rd quarter things started to turn our way a bit. We controlled possession, managed to pick up some critical ground balls, and scored two goals to Hampden-Sydney’s 1 in the period. At the end of 3 we were down 7-6. We were starting to break them and I think our sidelines could feel it.

The Generals scored first in the 4th about 3 minutes in to tie the game 7-7.
We took our first lead of the game on a man up goal a few moments later. 3 minutes later we gave up a goal on a hard shot from the perimeter to tie the game again.

At the 5:41 mark in the period we scored on a nice hitch and rip shot from the goalies left side to take the lead 9-8. We won the ensuing face-off but turned it over. A great defensive stand allowed us to get the ball back with about 4 minutes to play. We took the air out of the ball and killed the next 2 minutes. I called a timeout with about 2 minutes left because we were about to lose the ball. We started possession only to lose the ball a few moments later. A great defensive stand and save and clear allowed us to get the ball back and kill most of the remaining time left. Sydney got the ball back with :38 left in the game. Our defense buckled down and did not allow a good look at the cage. We doubled the ball on a loose ball scrum and took the ball away and cleared it as time went to 00:00 thus securing the win.

I was very proud of the toughness and determination our players showed in this day. It is hard to go on the road in conference and win. No one really picked us to win. We showed what we are about and proved to many that we are a very good team who can beat any one on any day.

We cleared the ball 18 for 18 on the day. Our starting goalie Jason Lumpkin made 14 saves on the day. Congratulations to Jason as he was recongnized as ODAC Defensive Player of the Week! While we were out shot on the day by 10 shots we put a much higher percentage of our shots in the goal. Shooting the ball at 30+% rather than 20% is critical to our success. Perhaps the most important stat was groundballs. On a day we did not win many face-offs we dominated groundballs in other areas of the field including some big big scoops late in the game to secure the win.

Here is the box score: http://www.generalssports.com/sports/mlax/2010-11/stats/WLU-HSC.HTM

All days are great days to be a General! This one was particularly great!

POST GAME SUMMARY GAME 6

POST GAME SUMMARY

Game 6: Franklin and Marshall

Your Generals dropped a tough game against non-conference rival Franklin and Marshall on Saturday, March 12. The final score was 7-6. The game was played in front a great crowd at Manhasset High School in Manhasset, NY.

This game was tough to swallow. We held the advantage in nearly every statistical category. I think our offense produced a number of quality offensive possessions on the day. I am not one for excuses because at the end of the day we did not find a way to win. The fact is we hit 6 pipes on the day.

Our defense continues to play very well. I thought our goalie play was outstanding. We built a 5-3 lead through 3 quarters. We allowed F&M to go on a 4 goal run in the first 8 minutes of the 4^th quarter to regain the lead and build a two goal cushion. We fought hard to get within 1 goal and had a time-out in our offensive zone with ten seconds left on the clock. We created a good shot on the cage but it missed just left of the pipe.

Overall I think we continue to improve. What we need to do is learn how to win these types of games. I believe this team is capable of making a run in the middle and late part of the season. The attitudes are great and the effort is there in practice. What we are doing works. We need to do it better and more consistently.

The box score can be accessed at www.generalssports.com