SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men’s lacrosse team advanced to the championship game of the 2005 Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament with a 13-5 win over #15 Hampden-Sydney College on Tuesday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Maroons improve to 13-1 overall on the season, setting a school record for wins in a single season in the process. The Maroons, who are ranked third in the nation in the latest USILA Division III national poll, will next play #9 Lynchburg College. That game will be played at 1:00pm on Sunday afternoon in Salem, VA.

The Maroons opened Tuesday’s scoring, getting a goal from freshman Zack Thomas with 10:20 left in the first quarter. The Tigers answered back on a Vince Smith unassisted goal just over a minute later to even things at one. The Maroons, however, scored the next three goals and never trailed again. Dan Reed and Chris Keating scored in the span of two minutes to make the score 3-1. Sophomore attackman Jon Mason was then able to pass the ball out of double-team to a wide open Thomas and the Maroons owned a 4-1 edge, that with 3:12 showing on the first quarter clock.

William Shell scored on a Vince Smith pass with 1:36 to play to make the score 4-2. The Tigers seemed to get a boast with the Maroons getting called for a one-minute slash on the play, setting up an HSC extra-man opportunity. The Maroons, however, turned the tide, scoring with 47 second left in the first, a Chris Keating man-down goal.

Leading 5-1 heading into the second quarter, the Maroons scored the first four goals of the second quarter to take a commanding 9-2 lead. Mason backed his way in to get his first of the game to make the score 6-1. Thomas then netted his third goal of the game and junior defenseman Rich Li then led a Maroon fastbreak, took a shot and scored his first goal of the season. Ryan Wilkerson made the score 8-1 in Roanoke’s favor. Michael Via scored with 3:43 left in the second, on a Shell assist, and the game went into the break 9-3.

The Maroons netted the only two goals of the third quarter. Mason scored his second goal of the game, essentially swatting in a Dan Reed pass from the top of the box. With his second goal of the game, Mason set a new Roanoke College record with his 57th tally of the season. Tug Schroeder dogged several HSC defenders to get his goal and make the score 11-3.

Going into the fourth, the Tigers again appeared to get a break, with the Maroons getting called for a three-minute illegal stick. But again, the Maroons turned the tides, scoring two man-down goals. Keating led both breaks, assisting on a Thomas score and then getting an assist on a Brendan Moore score. In all, the Maroons had three man-down goals in the game.

William Shell scored on a man-up opportunity for the Tigers, the team’s only goal on 10 man-ups in the game, and Thomas Jennings scored with 24 seconds remaining to make the final score 13-5.
In goal, Matt Madalon made 14 saves for the Maroons, 10 in the second half alone. He also had six groundballs, while Josh Bryant led the team with seven. Rich Li added five and Ben Love four.

Jeremy Bull made 12 saves for the Tigers. William Shell scored twice and added an assist, while Vince Smith had a goal and an assist.

Story by Roanoke S.I.D. Chris Cummings