SALEM – The Roanoke College men's lacrosse team held off an attacking Centre College squad on a blustery Wednesday afternoon, 9-8 in overtime.  The Maroons now have a record of 4-2, having won their last four consecutive games, while the Colonels have a record of 2-2.
 
The contest was a rematch of the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, where the Maroons were also victorious 21-4.  The Maroons now have a 2-0 record all-time against the Colonels of Centre College.
 
Roanoke and Centre both got off to a rough start, with each team having a hard time adjusting to the gusting wind.  Neither team scored in the first quarter, but the Colonels turned it on in the second.  At the 10:16 mark in the second quarter, Zack Connors scored an unassisted goal to take the initial 1-0 lead.  Connors assisted the next two goals for the Colonels, scored by Connor Stubbs and Dustin Cowell.  Wesley Hardman finished the scoring for Centre in the 3:35 point in the quarter with a goal assisted by Mitchell Kraus.  At halftime, the Colonels had built a 4-0 lead over the Maroons.
 
Roanoke came out of halftime hot, scoring just a minute and a half into the quarter.  James Fisher scored Roanoke's first goal off an assist by Kevin Jackson.  Just a minute later, Jackson assisted another goal, this time scored by Seth Fortmann.  Colin Rossano got in on the action just mere seconds later, taking a pass from Will Pilat and finding the back of the net.  With 7:32 to play in the half, Colin Mackenzie scored the equalizer on an unassisted goal, tying the game at 4-4.  Chad Smith put in the go-ahead goal with 3:51 to play in the third quarter.
 
The fourth quarter saw a lot of back and forth scoring between the Maroons and the Colonels.  Centre's Connor Stubbs scored a man up goal in the first 40 seconds of the period, tying the game up at 5-5.  A little over a minute later, Stubbs scored his third goal of the game, this time unassisted giving the Colonels the 6-5 advantage.  At 11:03, Tyler McWilliams scooped a ball off the ground and slipped it past the keeper to tie the game again, 6-6.
 
Centre's Peter Murphy scored just 30 seconds later, reclaiming the lead for the Colonels.  Over the next seven minutes, Roanoke scored two more goals, one by Chad Smith, the other from Will Pilat.  With 3:26 to play, Roanoke led again, 8-7.  A minute after Pilat's goal, Zack Connors scored the final goal of regulation off of a Peter Murphy assist, tying the game at 8-8 and sending the contest to overtime. 
 
In the overtime period, the Maroons started out with the ball and got off a few shots.  After a Roanoke timeout, the Maroons turned the ball over to the Colonels.  Centre also attempted two shots, but a well-placed Maroon recaptured control for Roanoke.  With 19 seconds to play, Kevin Jackson found the back of the net to end the contest, and win one for the Maroons with a 9-8 overtime victory.
 
The Maroons were led by Chad Smith who finished with two goals, while seven other Maroons tallied one goal each.  Kevin Jackson and Will Pilat each finished with four goals, while Jackson led the team in shots with 11.  James Fisher led the Maroons in ground balls, picking up six on the afternoon.  Charles Pease played all 63 minutes in net and tallied eight saves.
 
For the Colonels, they were led by Connor Stubbs who finished with three goals, while Zack Connors tallied two.  Connors also finished the game with a team high two assists.  Patrick Vaughn led the Colonels with six ground balls.  Bryce McCoy played all 63 minutes between the pipes and tallied 16 saves.
 
The Maroons more than doubled the shots taken by Centre as Roanoke took 57 shots to the Colonels 26.  The Maroons also led in face off wins (11-8), as well as ground balls, 39-31.
 
The Maroons return to action on Saturday, March 15^th as they take on #5 ranked Stevenson University.  That contest is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.
 
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