Men's Lacrosse Advances to ODAC Championship with 13-11 Victory over Hampden-Sydney

Men's Lacrosse Advances to ODAC Championship with 13-11 Victory over Hampden-Sydney
SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke scored seven of the final eight goals of the contest to down Hampden-Sydney, 13-11 in the ODAC Semifinals Sunday afternoon. The Maroons improve to 13-3 while the Tigers season ends at 12-5.
The Maroons, ranked eighth in the USILA Top-20 Poll, advances to their seventh conference championship game in the last eight years. Roanoke is 10-5 in the ODAC Tournament since it began in 2002, including a 7-2 record in conference semifinal games. RC is now 28-10 against the Tigers, winning nine of the last 10 meetings.
Roanoke, winners of eight-straight, out shot H-SC, 56-41 and won the groundball battle, 39-25. The Maroons were successful in all 16 clear attempts and were 4-for-7 in man-up opportunities.
Justin Tuma (Bloomfield Hills, MI, Lahser) won 15-of-21 face-offs and collected seven groundballs in addition to three goals to lead Roanoke. He is only nine groundballs and nine face-off wins shy of breaking the single-season record in both categories.
Roanoke seemed in control early as they took a 5-2 lead with 13:39 in the second quarter. But Hampden-Sydney rallied back, scoring eight of the next nine goals to take a four-goal advantage.
Down 10-6 midway through the third quarter, the Maroons rattled off six unanswered goals to take a 12-10 lead with 6:53 remaining in the game. During that stretch, Roanoke scored back-to-back man-up goals to tie the contest and took the lead for good with a man-down goal from Spencer Parsons (Columbus, OH, Upper Arlington) to make it, 11-10.
Jeff Keating (Chatham, NJ, Chatham) had two goals and an assist while Trey Keeley (Lancaster, PA, Conestaga Valley High School) added a goal and two assists. Kyle Smith (Roanoke, VA, Patrick Henry) netted two goals as Conner DuBois dished out two assists. Drew Manley (Severna Park, MD, St. Mary's Annapolis) collected seven groundballs on the afternoon.
Micah Keller and Carter Mavromatis scored three goals each to lead the Tigers. Cole Hawthorne had two goals and two assists.
Goalie Charles Pease (Landisville, PA, Hempfield) had a season-best 15 saves, 10 in the second half to improve his season mark to 9-2. Cody Hornung had 15 saves for the Tigers as both goalies gave outstanding efforts.
The men will host #19 Lynchburg in the ODAC Championship game on Sunday, May 8 at Kerr Stadium. The Maroons are 32-6 against the Hornets, winning the last four meetings. Game time is TBA.