Cody Larkin vs Washington & Lee 041817
Wyatt Eaton
7
Washington and Lee W&L 8-5
11
Winner Elizabethtown ETOWN 11-3
Washington and Lee W&L
8-5
7
Final
11
Elizabethtown ETOWN
11-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Washington and Lee W&L 0 2 4 1 7
Elizabethtown ETOWN 5 2 0 4 11

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Men's lacrosse knocks off No. 18 Washington and Lee

SPARKS GLENCOE, Md. -- Jason Clough and Cody Larkin recorded hat tricks, and Joe Clark had five points as Elizabethtown blitzed 18th-ranked Washington and Lee in the first quarter and emerged with a signature victory, 11-7, Tuesday evening at the US Lacrosse Headquarters.

Clough scored the Blue Jays' first of five goals in the opening 15 minutes on the man advantage at 13:09 with Mike Specht assisting. The senior from Berwyn made it 2-0 a little less than three minutes later, this time off a Joe Clark pass.

When the Blue Jays (11-3) weren't possessing the ball, they were causing the Generals fits. At times W&L appeared flustered by the pressure E-town was applying, resulting in six first-quarter turnovers.

Kyle Coats and Jeremy Klipple each forced a turnover in the first and W&L never seemed to fully settle down, committing 13 giveaways in the first half and a season-high 23 for the game.

Elizabethtown took advantage of the opportunities presented to them, with Cody Larkin (8:22), Clark (6:34) and Phil Kyger (2:50) adding goals to make it 5-0 E-town after one.

Back-to-back A.J. Witherell goals at 10:02 and 4:50 of the second combined with a near 15-minute scoring drought for the Jays allowed the Generals (8-5) to gain some momentum, but E-town stole it back before the half, as Mike Specht and Larkin tallied in the final 2:57 to restore the Jays' five-goal lead, 7-2.

Washington and Lee controlled the third quarter, outscoring the Blue and Gray, 4-0, but the final 15 minutes belonged to Elizabethtown. Clough and Kyger scored man up goals, while Larkin and Clark fired home two late ones to spearhead the Blue Jays' first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since an 11-7 victory over York (Pa.) on March 18, 2015, and its third all-time.

Though the Jays were outshot 42-33, they were much more efficient than W&L, putting 25 shots on goal to the Generals' 15. Elizabethtown also managed to get to the high percentage scoring areas effectively, while W&L spent much of the night fighting for positioning and shooting from tough angles.

What W&L did to near perfection was win face-offs. Jack Hodgson was 17 of 20 at the dot and his work allowed the Generals to spend nearly the entire third quarter pressing the Blue Jay defense. E-town played committed defense throughout and forced 10 of W&L's 23 turnovers. Clough, Zac Knapp and Jeremy Klipple had two caused turnovers apiece. Knapp and Klipple also led the way with five ground balls and Griffin Liebsch had four.

Elizabethtown avenged last year's heartbreaking 10-9 loss to W&L down at Cabrini. The Blue Jays led that one by a goal with under four minutes to play, before the Generals rallied. Tuesday's win was the program's first over W&L in three all-time meetings.

Offensively, Clark finished with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Clough (3 goals), Kyger (2 goals, 1 assist), Larkin (3 goals) and Dan Bednarik (3 assists) each had three points for the Jays, who were 3 for 3 on extra man opportunities.

Freshman goalie Tom Mahoney made several big saves and totaled eight on the night to win for the seventh times in eight starts.

Witherell led W&L with four points on four goals. Thomas Zusi had a pair of markers. Hodgson picked up 12 ground balls and goalie Philip Rech turned aside 14 E-town shots.

The Blue Jays will enjoy their Landmark open date on Saturday and wrap up the regular season on Saturday, April 29, with Senior Day against Catholic at 2 p.m.
 
Print Friendly Version