For Immediate Release March 23, 1999
Roanoke Falls to #2 Middlebury, 14-4
Maroons Can't Fight Back from 8-0 Hole
SALEM, Va.--The Roanoke College women’s lacrosse team lost to the second-ranked Middlebury Panthers today, 14-4, at Alumni Field in Salem, VA. The Maroons, who entered the contest ranked 14th in the country in the latest IWLCA Division III national poll, fall to 2-2 on the year, while Middlebury, which was second in the same poll, improves to 2-0. The loss is the worst for Roanoke since a 21-4 defeat at the hands of the same Middlebury team in 1997. After Roanoke had controlled the first six minutes of the game, Middlebury stole control, scoring its first goal at the 20:15 mark and adding five goals over the next 5:53. Betsy Wheeler led the way for the Panthers during that run, scoring three times. Middlebury added three more goal before the 4:00 mark and appeared to be taking an 8-0 lead into the break. However, with just 0:00.6 seconds on the clock, Roanoke senior Lindsay Wernert (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) beat the MC goaltender to bring the Maroons to within seven goals.
The Panthers continued to dominate the contest in the second half, scoring the first three goals to take a 10-1 lead. At that point, with 15:19 left on the clock, Wernert found the back of the net for the second time in the contest and for the 11th time this year. But again, Middlebury went on a scoring run, putting three more goals on the scoreboard. Roanoke’s Stephanie Newell (Hudson, OH/Hudson) scored on a free position shot, her first of the season, with 1:29 left to make the score 13-3. After Middlebury scored its final goal of the contest (with 41.9 seconds to go), Maroon senior Ellie Page (Savannah, GA/Berkshire) cut towards the MC net, took a pass from Victoria Kunzer (Rochester, NY/Webster) and sent the ball to the twine as time expired in the game.
The Panthers could have won by a larger margin had it not been for the play of Roanoke goalkeeper Debbie Apazidis (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan), who made 10 saves for the Maroons in the net. Her Middlebury counterpart stopped eight shots. The Maroons managed just 10 shots at the MC net, while the Panthers mustered 29 of their own.
Today’s win marked the third consecutive for Middlebury over the Maroons. Roanoke has never beaten the Panthers, dropping all three games in the past three years. This is the first time since the 1995 season that after four games the Maroons are 2-2, having gone 3-1 over the previous three seasons. Roanoke returns to action on Thursday, as Hartwick College, ranked ninth in this week’s national polls, visits Alumni Field. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm.