No. 14 Washington & Lee Tops Emory Men's Soccer in Lexington

No. 14 Washington & Lee Tops Emory Men's Soccer in Lexington

A hat-trick by Washington & Lee's Michael Kutsanzira powered the 14th-ranked Generals to a 5-1 victory over the Emory men's soccer team Friday afternoon in Lexington, Virginia.

The hat-trick marked the first multi-goal game of the freshman's career while the Generals added first career markers by sophomore Ethan McCann and freshman John Peterson for the four-goal decision. Freshman Joe Beare notched the lone Eagles tally of the afternoon, marking the first career score for the London native.

The Generals finished the contest leading 18-13 in shots, 11-5 in shots on goal and 13-5 in corner kicks.

After junior Cole Gallagher denied Kutsanzira twice with spectacular saves, Kutsanzira opened the scoring with a shot from the corner of 18 that went over the reach of Gallagher in the 24th minute.

W&L made it 2-0 before the halftime break as McCann fired a close range shot following a centering header by Austin Sholes at the 37th minute mark.

Beare cut the Generals lead to one in the 56th minute, working around two defenders before striking one home from straight on.

The comeback was short-lived as Washington & Lee answered just over a minute later as a Kutsanzira corner kick took a weird deflection off a punching attempt by Gallagher and crossed the goal line to make it 3-1 Generals.

Kutsanzira tacked on his third goal of the match in the 73rd minute with a curving strike over the leaping stab by Gallagher. Peterson notched the final margin tally two minutes later, tapping in an end line pass right in front of the net.

Freshman Madison Conduah provided the Eagles with two late chances to cut into the deficit but was turned away from close range each time by W&L's keeper.

Next up for the Eagles will be a pair of contests in Richardson, TX as Emory battles Mary-Hardin Baylor and UT-Dallas next Saturday and Sunday.