Posted: May 03, 2015
The Maroons now wait until 9:00 PM on Sunday evening to find out if they will advance as an at-large bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The Maroons saw a good run in the final weeks of the regular season, even defeating Virginia Wesleyan, who had previously been ranked in the USILA DIII Poll, in the ODAC Semifinals. In the most recent USILA poll, Roanoke received votes and was the third team out of the top-20.
The Maroons placed three players on the 2015 ODAC Men's Lacrosse Championship All-Tournament team. Roanoke's three players represented on the All-Tournament team were Dylan Torrey, Colin Mackenzie and Wes Pancoast.
Lynchburg and Roanoke scored two goals each in the opening eight minutes of the first quarter. Lynchburg scored first at the 11:46 mark, but Joey Dishaw scored an unassisted tally at 8:51 to tie the game. Lynchburg scored again at 7:22, but Will Pilat tied the game off of an assist from Cam Linsley. Pilat's goal was his 100th career goal, marking the second player to reach that feat this season. With the game tied 2-2, the hornets scored two goals in a one minute span, taking a 4-2 lead. Roanoke closed the gap with a goal from Tyler McWilliams, assisted by Pilat. However, Lynchburg's Dane Angell found the back of the net with four seconds to play in the first, giving the Hornets a 5-3 lead.
The Hornets started the second quarter with two goals in two and a half minutes, as the Maroons now trailed by four goals. At 11:51, Chad Smith scored off of a pass from Colin Mackenzie in a man-up opportunity to cut the deficit to three. However, Lynchburg's Stewart scored back to back goals through the 2:33 mark, to take a five goal, 9-4 lead for Lynchburg. Kevin Jackson scored Roanoke's final goal of the half with 30 seconds to play, as the Maroons entered the halftime period trailing by four, 9-5.
After Lynchburg scored at 10:35 in the third quarter, Roanoke surged to a three-goal run. In a man-down opportunity, Conn Curry scored an unassisted goal at 9:47. Steven Jackson scored with the aid of Pilat at 8:56, while Tyler McWilliams scored his second less than a minute later, as the Maroons pulled within two, 10-8. However, Lynchburg went on a 4-0 run as both Aaron Murphy and Austin Stewart scored two goals each to close the third quarter. With one quarter to play, the Maroons trailed 14-8.
Lynchburg opened the fourth quarter with a goal from Chris Cornelius, but the Maroons got on a hot streak again after that. At 12:32, Mackenzie scored from a pass from Kevin Jackson, cutting the deficit to six. Steven Jackson scored 30 seconds later with an assist from Dishaw. At 7:48, Kevin Jackson scored an unassisted goal, while McWilliams netted an unassisted goal a minute later. With six minutes to play, the Maroons trailed by three, 15-12. However, those would be the final Maroon goals, as Lynchburg closed the game with a goal each from Angell and Murphy. The Hornets advance to the NCAA Tournament with the 17-12 win.
Tyler McWilliams led the Maroons in scoring with three goals, followed by Kevin Jackson and Steven Jackson with two goals each. Will Pilat finished the game with one goal, his 100th of his career, and a team high two assists. Kevin Jackson led the team with three ground balls, while Dishaw, Carter, Newman, Kaminski and Grogan had two each. Kevin Jackson and Troy Grogan forced two turnovers each. Dylan Torrey played the complete game and notched 17 saves on the day.
The Hornets were led in scoring by Austin Stewart, who finished with eight goals on the day. Aaron Murphy followed with three goals. Daniel Owens led the team with three of the squad's seven assists. Bobby Distler finished the game with 14 ground balls, coming off of a 26-33 day at face-off duty. Chris Hawley finished a complete game in goal with four saves.
The Maroons will know at 9:00 PM whether they will advance as an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. If they advance, we will let you know as soon as the bracket is released.
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