LEXINGTON, Va. --- Senior defender Sarah Rozell scored the winning goal and then made a defensive save late, as the Bridgewater College field hockey won its first ODAC championship 1-0 at Washington & Lee.
Rozell scored in the 44th minute after inserting a penalty corner, redirecting an Elizabeth Washington shot at the left post for the contest's only goal.
The Generals' Maggie Waxter sent a shot towards to the far post with under seven minutes remaining, but Rozell was there to make the crucial defensive save and keep W&L off the board.
A year after reaching the program's first-ever ODAC championship game but losing 2-0 to Lynchburg, the Eagles came back and defeated the nationally-ranked Hornets in the semifinals before shutting down the Generals in Saturday's championship.
Marisa Sims made three saves as she continued her outstanding play as an emergency goalkeeper- moving to 5-1 on the season with two shutouts.
Sims and Rozell were named to the All-Tournament team, along with Allison Kirk (who scored the game-winner vs. Lynchburg) and Katie Ellis, who was part of an Eagles defense that never wavered throughout the playoffs (one goal allowed in 221 minutes).
For the second straight meeting between the two teams, the game was scoreless at halftime with few clear chances for either side. Caroline Fletcher was huge defensively for the Eagles, clearing out attack after attack before the Generals could get a clear-cut shot.
A shot by Kendall Bernard 15 minutes in was saved but took a weird spin off Sims before being cleared from the goalmouth by the Eagles defense.
The Generals won the first corner of the game with 15 minutes left in the first half, but Haley Tucker flashed a shot wide. Bridgewater then had a penalty corner at the other end, with the first Eagle shot hitting Kirk in front of the goalie, and another shot from Taylor Prillaman soon after was saved.
Madison Clement had a chance blocked in the second half, earning a penalty corner for Bridgewater that the Eagles couldn't convert on.
Prillaman then took a pass right in front of the cage, but her shot missed by inches with a chance to put Bridgewater up by two.
Bridgewater improves to 12-8 and earns the ODAC's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament.
--- This release is courtesy of the Bridgewater College sports information department. ---
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