SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke fell in overtime to Washington & Lee, 15-14, in the ODAC Championship held at Kerr Stadium Sunday afternoon. With the win the Generals, who were a #3 seed in the conference tournament, improve 15-3 while the Maroons, who were the #1 seed and ranked #1 in the country (USILA), fell to 17-1 on the season.
The Generals, ranked #10 in the country (USILA), are now 28-18 in the series against the Maroons. The last five games have been decided by one goal with this game splitting the season series with one win apiece. Both games this season have been decided in overtime, with Roanoke winning, 14-13, on April 15.
Roanoke doubled W&L's total in groundballs (48-24) and held a 42-33 shots advantage. The Maroons won 20-of-32 face-offs and were successful in 17-of-20 clear attempts.
Down 14-11 with just over three minutes remaining in regulation, Roanoke scored three unanswered goals over the ensuing 1:30 to tie the contest at 14-all with 1:58 in the fourth. Senior captain
Zach Thomas orchestrated the mini-run, scoring an unassisted goal and had an assist on the game-tying man-up goal to freshman
Jeff Keating.
Trey Keeley, who finished with two assists on the day, found an open
Joseph Coretti for what would've been the game-winner, but the goal was called back due to a crease violation with less than eight seconds remaining and sent the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Harry St. John scored just 38-seconds in to give the Generals their first championship since 2004.
Roanoke was led by Thomas with three goals and two assists. He now is in sole possession of fourth on the all-time scoring list with 234 points. He is tied for sixth in career assists with 94.
Matt Quinton finished with a team-best four goals to move him up to 26
th on the career scoring list.
Chas Carlson had a goal and an assist to move into a tie for 11
th with 187 points.
Sam Love had a monster game for the Maroons' defense, collecting four groundballs and causing a career-best nine turnovers thanks to his outstanding stick-work.
Stephen Simmons, a long-stick midfielder, collected six groundballs and caused four turnovers with his hard hitting.
Josh Rea led the face-off specialists, winning 12-of-19 face-offs and collecting seven groundballs.
Greg Khanzadian won 8-of-12 face-offs and collected six groundballs.
St. John finished with four goals and two assists to lead the Generals. Seth Fishman had four goals while Will Keigler added three goals and three assists. Tyler Smith had four caused turnovers and Seldon Clarke collected six groundballs including 10-of-26 on face-offs.
Connor Locke had 14 saves in goal for the Generals while
Jake Dorsey finished with nine in goal for the Maroons in addition to collecting seven groundballs.
For Washington & Lee, St. John, Locke, Keigler and James Shanahan made the all-tournament team while Quinton, Simmons and Love were named for the Maroons.
The Generals receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship with the win while the Maroons will likely receive an at-large bid as both teams will find out their opponents tonight during the selection show at 10 p.m.
