For Immediate Release November 3, 2000
Maroons Eliminated From Tournament
RC Ties Virginia Wesleyan, 1-1, Falls in Kicks
Virginia Wesleyan (13-5-2) 1 0 0 0- 1 Roanoke (15-4-1) 0 1 0 0- 1 Goals: VWC - Sciullo. RC - Francois. Assists: RC - Lechtrecker. Saves: VWC - Wheaton 3. RC - Ebeling 10. Penalty Kicks: Virginia Wesleyan 4, Roanoke 3.
LEXINGTON, VA--The Roanoke College men’s soccer team saw its season come to an end in a unique way on Friday afternoon, being eliminated from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference playoffs by the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins on penalty kicks. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie in regulation and two overtimes, and the Marlins went on to beat the Maroons, 4-3, in the kicks phase. The Maroons see their season end with a 15-4-1 overall record, while the Marlins move to 13-5-2. VWC will play Washington & Lee in Saturday’s ODAC championship match. The Marlins struck first in the game, as Vinnie Scuillo headed in a second chance ball with 18:40 to go in the first half. After several scoring chances in the second half, the Maroons drew even with 14:49 to go in the game. David Lechtrecker (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) fed Regi Francois (Springfield, VA/Washington International) in the box. Francois one-touched the ball to himself and beat the VWC goalie for his 14th goal of the year.
After two scoreless overtime periods, the game went into the kicks phase. The Maroons opened up the kicks with a miss, while Virginia Wesleyan converted its first three. After Roanoke’s Darren Eversole (Blacksburg, VA/Blacksburg), Harold McConnell (Sussex, NJ/High Point Regional), and Francois converted their attempts, Maroon keeper Chris Ebeling (Ellicott City, MD/Oakland Mills) stopped the fourth VWC attempt. The phase headed into the fifth try tied at four, but the Maroons missed their fifth attempt, while the Marlins made theirs and moved on to the title contest.