Roanoke Looks to Tie Washington and Lee with 11th ODAC Crown

LYNCHBURG, Va. --- Roanoke defeated Lynchburg, 14-8 in the ODAC Semifinals on Wednesday evening at Shellenberger Field. The Maroons will advance to the conference championship with a 12-7 record while the Hornets season ends at 12-5.

The Maroons, who advance to their fifth conference final in six years, controlled the game in shots (31-23), groundballs (30-18), clears (18-of-23) and caused 28 Lynchburg turnovers. They were 3-for-6 in free-position shots.

Down 4-3 with 18:06 remaining in the first half, Roanoke scored three unanswered goals to take the lead for good, including a man-down goal by Meegan Rourke from Allison Bonanno during that span to take the two-goal advantage.

Up by two in the second half, the Maroons pulled away for good, scoring five of the next six goals to extend their lead to 13-7 with 4:22 remaining. With the win, Roanoke snapped a two-game skid against the Hornets, avenging both the regular season defeat and last year’s conference semifinal loss.

Gina Valles led the Maroons with a game-best five goals and an assist for six points. She also totaled four draw controls, five groundballs and five caused turnovers to put her at 48, which is second on the single-season list at Roanoke. Tonight’s performance gave her the single-season goals record with 79.

Rourke scored two goals to put her second on the single-season scoring (100) and goal list (77). She is also eighth on the career goals list (125). She added game-highs of six groundballs and eight caused turnovers to break the single-season record with 52. Carolyn Miller finished with three goals and one assist while Jamie Golden added two goals and an assist on the night. 

Bonanno contributed a goal and a team-high two assists. Lyndsey Jones had nine saves and collected five groundballs on the evening for Roanoke.

Morgan Logue led LC with three goals while Lesley Buckingham totaled two goals and two assists for a team-high four points. Christina Tran totaled 14 saves in the games.The women will travel to Lexington, VA in a rematch with the defending conference champions, Washington and Lee in the ODAC Championship. The game is scheduled for Sunday, May 8 with game time scheduled for 2 p.m.

This release is courtesy of the Roanoke College sports information department.