Gennies soccer wins historic 500th match, still on the hunt for more

Along with aiming for the school’s first-ever repeat ODAC soccer championship, the 2016 Generals also made W&L his- tory in another way: Notching the program’s 500th win.

Kathyrn Young

The Washington and Lee Generals men’s soccer team celebrated its 500th win in program history with a decisive victory over Emory and Henry on Oct. 18. The Generals defeated the Hornets 4-1 on the road at Fred Selfe Stadium in Emory, VA.

Geinda Smith, ‘17, and Dylan Ritch, ‘19, led the way for the Generals with two goals each. Though two of the goals were unassisted, Sterling Kirk, ‘18, and Kevin Lencioni, ‘17, each recorded an assist as well.

The Generals out-shot the Wasps 22-10 and held a 7-5 edge over them in corner kicks. The Generals also had more than twice the Wasps number of shots on goal, leading them 13-6.

“We know that if we play like we should, teams will have a tough time keeping with us,” Mason Billings, ‘17, said. “If we approach every game with the same objective and execute our plans, the rest should take care of itself, just like business.”

Goalkeeper Thomas Zusi, ‘20, played all 90 minutes for the Generals, recording five saves. This game was both his first career start and his first complete game for the Generals. Zusi will likely continue to play while the other goalkeeper, Gillen Beck, ‘17, is on the injured reserve.

The Generals have had an incredibly eventful season so far this fall, in addition to their 500th program victory.

In October, the team received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for having a team average GPA of 3.0 or higher. The girl’s soccer team was also recognized with this award.

On the field, the team has consistently been ranked in the top 25 nationally, according to d3soccer.com, and are 12-3 on the season. The Generals have defeated multiple top-25 programs this season, including Lynchburg College, Ohio Wesleyan University and SUNY at Oneonta.

The team’s motto this this is “taking care of business,” and they seem to be sticking to it. However, the team is by no means stopping their hard work after this great achievement. From here, they are looking on to bigger and better things.

“Everyone is all in and we’re hoping to accomplish a lot more this year too, the team just has a winning attitude,” said defender Trey Moore, ‘19.

Despite its early accomplishments, the team still has two more important ODAC conference games, the ODAC tournament, and potentially a deep NCAA tournament run to look forward to this season.

“Our celebration was brief as we gear up to take on Randolph this weekend and close out our regular season,” midfielder Austin Gilbert, ‘18, said prior to the Generals handing Randolph a 2-0 loss in its homecoming match on Oct. 22.

Last year, the team defeated Randolph last in a decisive 5-2 victory during the ODAC championships.

Although the team still has a lot to look forward to, it knows that reaching 500 wins is a big deal.

“Five-hundred wins is a massive milestone for our program, and I know all of us are excited to be a part of it,” Gilbert said.

After the Randolph win, the program is now 501-401-85 over its 70 seasons at Washington and Lee. The Generals will go for victory number 502 on Oct. 26 in its last home contest of the season.