Maroons Earn Automatic Bid into NCAA Division III Tournament

SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke defeated #18 Lynchburg, 12-10, to win the 2011 ODAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship at Kerr Stadium on Sunday afternoon.  The Maroons, ranked #8 in the USILA Top-20 Coaches Poll, improved to 14-3 on the season, while the Hornets slipped to 13-6.

The Maroons lost 15 seniors, including two national players of the year and five USILA All-Americans from a year ago.  They were perceived to be in the midst of a rebuilding year, but remained in the USILA Top-10 all-season for the third-straight year.  RC went undefeated in the ODAC for the third-straight season en route to its second-straight and 17^th overall ODAC Championship.

The win also gave the program an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship Tournament.  It’s the sixth time over the last seven years that Roanoke has advanced to the national tournament, marking 23 overall NCAA Tournament appearances.

Roanoke is now 11-5 in the ODAC Tournament, which began in 2002, but is 4-1 against Lynchburg in ODAC Championship games.  The Maroons, which won their fifth-straight against the Hornets, are now 42-8 in the confines of Donald J. Kerr Stadium, which opened its gates in April of 2007.

Winners of nine-straight entering the post-season, Roanoke held slight edges in shots (50-41), groundballs (46-37) and face-offs (14-of-25).  Both teams were solid in clear attempts, with Roanoke going 20-for-24 and Lynchburg went 20-28.

The Hornets grabbed a two-goal advantage within the first three minutes of action as both Max Voumard and Matt Manzo found the back of the net.  Richard Lachlan scored off an assist from Mike Hayden to put the Maroons on the board and tied the score at the 4:15 mark on an unassisted goal from Jeff Keating.

With Lynchburg leading 3-2 in the second quarter, Roanoke's Drew Manley tied the game with a goal at the 14:02 mark. Keating added another tally to put the Maroons ahead 4-3 with 9:18 left in the half. Trey Keeley put Roanoke up 5-3 at the 6:20 mark.

Andrew Wilfong answered back at 5:41 with a goal to bring LC within one. Keating scored his third and fourth goals less than five seconds apart to make it a 7-4 lead for the Maroons at the 5:04 point of the second. After Roanoke added another goal to lead 8-4, Ryan Greenhill scored with 48.8 seconds left to pull LC within three just before halftime.

Joey Coretti added another goal just 90-seconds into the second half to push the Maroons lead to 9-5. Dylan Hoff scored his first of the game and Derek Sweet followed suit to cut Lynchburg’s deficit to within two goals with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter.

After trading off the last three goals to end the third, Lynchburg scored back-to-back tallies to start the fourth quarter to make the score 11-10. After a turnover in the Hornet end, Lachlan scored from Manley to put the Maroons up 12-10 with just over seven minutes left. Lynchburg had the ball in the final minute with a man-up opportunity, but couldn't convert.

Charles Pease, Keating, Manley and Justin Tuma were named to the 2011 ODAC All-Tournament Team.  Pease was the story of the day, as he came up big with career-best 16 saves and eight groundballs.  The freshman improved his record to 10-2 and had his seventh game with 10 saves or more.

Tuma had a goal and an assist which put him 13^th on the career assists list with 71.  The 2011 ODAC Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year won 11-of-17 face-offs, which gave him enough for the single-season record of 222 wins.  He collected five groundballs, which puts him three shy of the single-season record in that category.

Keating led nation’s third-best offense with four goals, all in the first half, which put him 13^th all-time at Roanoke.  His 175 career points now rank him 16^th all-time in the 40 years of the sport in Salem.  Lachlan scored three goals to put him one point shy of becoming the 47^th member of the 100-point club at Roanoke.  Hayden dished out a career-high five assists to lead the Maroons.

Franc Cook, Matt Manzo and Joe Lisicky were named to the 2011 ODAC All-Tournament team for Lynchburg.  Dylan Hoff posted two goals and two assists for LC as Derek Sweet added two goals. Jeff Schwartz won 10-of-13 face-off attempts and collected six groundballs.  Cook (13-6) totaled 15 saves, 10 in the second half for the Hornets.

The men’s lacrosse team will await word from the NCAA Div. III Lacrosse Selection Show, which airs tonight at 10 p.m. of their seed, date, location and opponent.  The NCAA Div. III Men’s Lacrosse Championship Tournament begins on Wednesday, May 11 with first-round action.

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