GREENSBORO, NC--The Roanoke College women's lacrosse team outscored host Guilford College 7-3 in the second half to come away with a key 13-9 win in Greensboro, NC on Wednesday afternoon. The Maroons improve to 4-9 overall on the season and 2-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Quakers fall to 5-8 overall and 2-6 in the ODAC. With the win, the Maroons move into a temporary tie with the Quakers for sixth place in the conference standings. The top six teams in the regular season standings advance to the conference postseason.
The Maroons and Quakers played to a 6-6 tie through the first 30 minutes of play, but the Maroons got the jump on Guilford in the second half, scoring the first three goals to take a 9-6 lead. Sophomore
Rachel Hutchinson scored two of those three goals, with fellow second-year player
Chelsea Rankin getting the third. Guilford cut the Maroon lead to just one goal, 9-8, within a matter of 40 seconds. With the Maroons holding the 9-8 lead after GC's second consecutive goal, that with 18:26 left in the game, Rankin pushed the RC lead back to two with her fourth goal of the game. That goal came with 16:17 left. The Quakers again cut the lead to one just over a minute later.
The Maroons, however, took complete command of the game, scoring the final three goals. Meaghan Cromwell tallied with 13:32 to play,
Amanda Hutchins scored with 4:07 to go, and Cromwell capped the scoring with less than a minute left on the clock.
In the first half, the Maroons fell behind 2-0 in the first five minutes, but goals from Hutchins and Rankin pulled the Maroons even with about 19 minutes to play. Guilford recaptured the lead, by one, but again the Maroons answered, this time on goals coming from Cromwell and
Dara Lundregan. Those tallies gave the Maroons their first lead, 4-3. The two teams then traded the final five goals of the first half, with the Quakers getting three of them to even the score at six.
After going the first 30 minutes of the game without a save, Roanoke keeper
Liz Manfredini was a spark to the Maroons' strong second half showing, making five stops.
The Maroons host Sweet Briar College at 4:00pm on Friday afternoon in Salem, VA. The Maroons will then close out the 2005 regular season with a home game against the Bridgewater College Eagles on Monday afternoon.
Roanoke vs. Guilford Box Score
