Lynchburg Cruises Past EMU into ODAC Finals

Hornets to Meet R-MC for ODAC Title for Second Straight Year

LYNCHBURG, Va. --- The Lynchburg College field hockey team, ranked third this week in NCAA Division III, defeated visiting Eastern Mennonite University Wednesday afternoon 4-0 in a semifinal matchup in the 2011 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament.

The Hornets got on the scoreboard just under five minutes into the game, as senior Tarah Rahner scored from Kelli Williams in traffic. The Hornets threatened to add to their lead, but Mary Beth Danaher made six first half saves and LC couldn't convert on a penalty stroke to keep the score 1-0 at intermission. LC had a 17-2 edge in shots in the first 35 minutes and were awarded nine penalty corners to EMU's three. 

Lynchburg finally added an insurance goal at 52:05 of the second half as freshman attack Katie Kline collected a loose ball in front of the net following a corner and found the back of the cage. LC had another corner opportunity two minutes later and again capitalized, this time junior Shelly Milks scored from class-mate Lindsay Leonard. Leonard scored her 30th goal of the season with 30 seconds left on the game clock to close out the scoring.

For the game LC held large advantages in shots (31-3) and penalty corners (13-3). Danaher made 13 stops for the game, while Hornet keeper Tiffany Frye made one stop.

The Hornets, the tournament's top seed, look to capture the program's sixth-consecutive conference title Saturday. LC hosts second-seeded Randolph-Macon College in a rematch of last year's championship game at a time to be announced tomorrow. The winner earns the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Eastern Mennonite ends the season 10-11.

This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College Sports Information Department.