MAROONS WIN 14TH ODAC CHAMPIONSHIP, BEAT LC 21-15
Maroons Receive Automatic Bid to NCAA Tournament, Will Find Out Opponent Sunday

SALEM, VA--Trailing 7-4 after the first period of play, the Roanoke College men’s lacrosse team went on a 17-5 run over the next two-and-a-half quarters in rolling to a 21-15 win over Lynchburg College in the championship game of the 2006 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship. The win gives the Maroons their 14th ODAC title, first since 1997, and the ODAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Maroons improve to 13-2 overall with the win, which is their 12th consecutive. Lynchburg falls to 13-3 overall and will await word on one of four at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Both teams will find out their NCAA fate on Sunday night.

A fast and furious first period saw the Hornets go up 2-0 in the first five minutes. Ryan Quick opened the scoring with about 12 minutes left. With the Maroons a man-up, Lynchburg scored on a transition goal, a Tyler Tolson score, to take a 2-0 lead with 10:39 left. Off the ensuing face-off, the Maroons got one of their five man-up goals, with Zach Thomas finishing a Brendan Moore pass just 13 seconds after the Tolson goal. Off the next face-off, Lynchburg’s Brian Kemper won possession, moved down the middle of the field and scored just nine seconds later.

Less than a minute later Johnny Black was left all alone on the crease and finished a Kemper pass to give LC a 4-1 lead. The Maroons trimmed the lead to one on Thomas and Jon Mason goals, but the Hornets scored three of the final four goals of the period to take a 7-4 lead after the first 15 minutes.

After getting outscored by three in the first 15 minutes, the Maroons dictated play over the final 45. After forcing a turnover, Roanoke senior defender Ben Love cleared the ball the length of the field and unleashed a high shot that started a 7-0 Roanoke run to open the second. Pat Hurley scored on a cutting pass from Moore with 10:57 left and just 10 seconds later, face-off specialist Billy Cameron scored the first of his two goals, on a Chaz Carlson assist to make the score 7-7. Carlson got a goal of his own with 9:05 left to give the Maroons an 8-7 lead, a lead they would not give up. Mason and Matt Duke gave the Maroons a 10-7 cushion and Chris Keating scored on an Andrew Hall fastbreak with 1:45 left in the half to make the score 11-7. Black scored one of his five goals with 1:04 left to make the score 11-8 at halftime.

After Carlson and Keating opened scoring in the second half for the Maroons, Roanoke scored another man-up goal, this time a Moore goal off of a Ryan Wilkerson pass, that making the score 14-8. Duke added a right-handed score with 7:54 left and Roanoke led 15-8. Ryan Quick put an end to Roanoke’s 4-0 run with an unassisted goal in which he was able to slip past three Maroon defenders. Mason scored the third of his three goals, a turn-and-shoot pass on the crease with the Maroons a man-up to counter.

After the Hornets scored the last two goals of the third quarter, the Maroons opened the fourth with three straight goals. While trying to run time off the clock, the Maroons forced the Hornets into two early penalties. After picking up an errant pass at midfield, Keating found the upper corner four Roanoke’s fourth man-up goal, then with 8:49 left in the fourth Zach Thomas cut from behind the net and finished a Keating pass to give the Maroons an 18-11 lead. Hall got his third assist in the last two games, helping on a Scott Pattison goal before Black scored again for LC. After another Pattison goal, Cameron won the ensuing face-off, ran down the center of the field and scored six second later. That gave Roanoke a 21-12 lead. The Hornets scored three unassisted goals to end the game.

Roanoke’s Keating, Mason, Love, and Matt Madalon were named to the All-Tournament team, as were Lynchburg’s Chad Clark, Brian Kemper, and Ryan Quick. Hampden-Sydney’s representatives were Vince Smith and John Pritzlaff, while Seldon Clarke and Perrin Monroe were selected from Washington & Lee.

Roanoke vs. Lynchburg Box Score