YORK, PA – The seventh-ranked York College men's lacrosse team made history on Saturday as they earned a 12-5 victory over #20 Washington & Lee in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Division III tournament in York. The win advances the Spartans in the national quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The Spartans improve to 18-3 overall while the Generals outstanding season comes to a close at 16-4.

The Spartans will now host Gettysburg on Wednesday for the right to advance to the national semifinals.

How it Happened:

• The Generals jumped on the Spartans early with a pair of goals in the opening three minutes of the game. Sam Dardani scored off a Whit Griffin pass just 1:26 into the game. Griffin made it 2-0 with a goal off an A.J. Witherell pass with 12:10 left in the first quarter.

• York got on the board with a Dan Kaplan man-up goal with 8:30 left in the period.

• Dardani scored a second goal at the 7:20 mark of the period as the Generals led 3-1.

• York got an important goal near the end of the first quarter as Andrew Gamble netted an unassisted goal, cutting the Spartan deficit to 3-2.

• Griffin put the Generals up 4-2 as Jack Clarke won the face off and fed a streaking Griffin just 11 seconds into the second quarter.

• It would be all York the remainder of the quarter as the Spartans scored a trio of goals over the next three minutes to take a 5-4 lead. Gamble, Taylor Tolbert, and Thomas Pfeiffer all found the back of the cage over a 2:54 span as York seized control of the game.

• The final 11 minutes of the first half would be scoreless as the Spartans outshot the Generals 16-3 in the second quarter.

• The Spartans pushed the lead to 6-4 with third Gamble goal 3:13 into the second half.

• The Generals scored for the last time in the game with a Griffin goal at the 2:11 mark of the third quarter.

• York scored two goals in the final 1:21 of the period as Joseph Joseph and Nick Magnusson found the back of the net for the Spartans as the lead grew to 8-5.

• York closed out the win with four fourth period goals. Austin Glab, Pfeiffer, Cameron Leech, and Hunter Davis scored for the Spartans, providing for the final seven goal margin of victory.

Spartan Leaders

Andrew Gamble: 3 goals, 2 ground balls, 1 caused turnover

Thomas Pfeiffer: 2 goals, 1 assist

Cameron Leech: 1 goal, 2 assists, 1 ground ball

Josh Kluver: 5 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers

Jake Katchmark: 10-for-17 at the X, 4 ground balls

General Leaders

Whit Griffin: 3 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball

Sam Dardani: 2 goals

Jack Clark: 7-for-15 at the X, 6 ground balls

Buck Armstrong: 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers

In the Goal

Caleb Abney (YCP): 60 minutes, 9 saves, 5 goals against (Win, 17-2)

Wyatt Devine (W&L): 60 minutes, 12 saves, 12 goals against (Loss, 16-4)

Game Notes:

The 18 wins continues to increase the school record, the previous record of 16 was set by the 2014 Spartans … the win improves York's record to 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament with all three wins coming at Kinsley Field … the victory over the Generals is the first in the four game series for the Spartans as York entered the game 0-3 versus W&L … The Spartans outscored the Generals 7-1 in the second half after leading 5-4 at the intermission … the Spartans trailed 2-0 and that is the first time they have trailed in a game since the second quarter of the April 16 game at Christopher Newport … the Spartans had scored first in their previous four games …  Senior defender Josh Kluver's four caused turnovers pushes his season total to a career-high and school-record 42 as he now has a school-record 138 for his career … Kluver now has 185 ground balls which rank him seventh on the Spartans' all-time list … York was not called for a penalty in the game as they now have just one penalty for one minute in their two NCAA Tournament games … York now has won five straight while the loss snaps W&L's win streak at six … The Generals entered the game having won 14 of their last 15 games … The Spartan win is their second straight over a conference champion as the Generals won the ODAC this spring … The Spartans are now 33-11 at home under the guidance of York head coach Brandon Childs … Childs is now 66-28 in his five years at the helm of the Spartan program … Senior goalie Caleb Abney earned his 53 career win as he improves to 17-2 this season … The Spartans limited ODAC Rookie-of-the-Year A.J. Witherell to just one assist and one shot in the game after the outstanding freshman entered the contest having scored 54 points on 33 goals and 21 assists in 19 games … The Spartans went 1-of-2 on the man-up as they scored their first man-up goal since the CAC championship game win over Salisbury … York outshot the Generals 48-26 including 16-3 in the second quarter … The Spartans won the ground ball battle 33-22 while York also won 13 of 21 face offs … York forced 18 W&L turnovers including seven in the second quarter … The Spartans were perfect on the clear until a failed clear turnover inside the final five minutes of the game as they finished 15-of-16 in the game ... Andrew Gamble's three point game marks the 12th time this year he has three or more points in a game ... Gamble leads the Spartans in scoring with 59 points on 39 goals and 20 assists.

What's Next

The Spartans will host #5 Gettysburg College in York's first ever appearance in the national quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 pm. The Spartans edged the Bullets 9-7 on March 9 in York. The winner of the game advances to the national semifinals on Sunday, May 22 at the sight of the higher seed.

JoJo Joseph photo courtesy of Sam Casale Photography