The Roanoke College women's soccer team has released its schedule for the 2015 fall season. The schedule was released week, as the Maroons look to capture the program's 10th-straight winning season. The schedule will consist of 17 contests, including eight home and nine on the road.
Coach Phil Benne is just two wins shy of achieving his 300th win at Roanoke College. Benne is one of the nation's elite in coaching, ranked in the top-15 in NCAA Div. III for victories among active coaches, and top-20 all-time in DIII in career wins. As the programs' all-time wins leader, Benne, who enters his 26th season, is second all-time in ODAC history in overall and conference victories.
Last year, the Maroons produced a program-record ninth-straight season with at least 10 wins, going 11-7-1 in 2014. They won the Shellenberger Classic at Lynchburg College. The Hornets went on to win the 2014 NCAA Div. III Championship last fall. Five Maroons were named All-ODAC this past November, with four players coming back to play in 2015.
The Maroons will open the season on September 1st against Meredith in Raleigh, NC, whom they beat last year by a score of 2-1. The Avenging Angels, led by two-time conference coach of the year Paul Smith, finished 13-5-2 last season, as they shared the USA-South Conference regular season title.
Roanoke will come home to host the Roanoke College Invitational on Sept. 5-6. They will play against John Carroll and Elizabethtown, two teams that they have never faced before. Both teams lost in the their conference tournaments to the eventual conference champion. John Carroll finished its season with an overall record of 10-5-4. Elizabethtown finished 13-4, closing the regular season with an eight-game win-streak, and boasted a conference record of 6-1 where they were the #2 seed going into the Landmark Conference Tournament. The Blue Jays advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, its seventh appearance in 20 years.
The Maroons will travel to Lynchburg where they will compete in the Schellenberger Classic. They will face off against an improving Salisbury team who finished with an overall record of 10-6-3 and a conference record of 7-2. Led by 2014 Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in Kwame Lloyd, the Sea Gulls have appeared four times in the NCAA Tournament, its most recent in 2011. The women's soccer team will then face Southern Virginia University for the second-consecutive year. The Maroons defeated the Knights 2-1 last year.
After the tournament at Lynchburg, the Maroons will have to head back to Lynchburg to begin conference play against the reigning Div. III national champions. Roanoke proved to be competitive in its contest with the Hornets team, but lost 2-0 to the team that garnered a 27-0-1 record last year as the five-time defending ODAC Champions. The Hornets have captured the ODAC Title in 13 of the past 18 years.
The Maroons final non-conference match will be against Capital Athletic Conference opponent, Christopher Newport at home on Oct. 25. The Captains lost in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament last year and beat the Maroons in a close 2-1 contest during the 2014 season. The Captains captured their second-straight CAC regular season title last fall and have been to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.
After taking on Eastern Mennonite on Sept. 23, Roanoke will travel to Ashland, VA to take on Randolph-Macon on Sept. 26. The Yellow Jackets are rich in women's soccer tradition in the ODAC, winning 12 conference championships, second only to Lynchburg with 13. On Sept. 29, the women travel to Lexington in a pivotal match-up in the ODAC against Washington and Lee. The Generals have won the ODAC three times and appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times, with the last coming in 2009. On Oct. 3 during Family Weekend at Roanoke College, the Maroons will take on Shenandoah in another big conference showdown.
After a contest at Randolph (10/6), the women will host Virginia Wesleyan in another big ODAC contest on Oct. 10 during "Soccer Alumni Day." The Marlins ended the Maroons season last fall. Virginia Wesleyan won the ODAC in 2006 and have appeared in the ODAC Championship match four-straight years (2008-11). The next three games during that stretch include Emory & Henry (10/14), at Bridgewater (10/17) and at Guilford (10/21). Senior Day will be on Halloween vs. Hollins on the final day of the regular season.
Roanoke is coming off an 11-7-1 season where they finished with a 7-4-1 record in ODAC play. The team will return four All-ODAC selections from the 2014 season including first-team selection Nathalie Torres, Marlana Barnard and Laura Sullivan who were tabbed with second-team honors, and Ashley Barnes who was placed on the All-ODAC Third-Team. The Maroons will look to improve upon their 2014 season and claim their first ODAC Championship since 1998 and first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011.
