Hornets' women's, men's soccer teams reach ODAC finals

While no style points would be awarded for the goal Lynchburg College’s women’s soccer team scored in the 21st minute of Wednesday’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament semifinal game against visiting Washington & Lee, it was good enough to earn the Hornets a 1-0 victory over the Generals.

Top-seeded Lynchburg (18-2-1) will try to win consecutive ODAC championships when they host second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at a time to be determined. The Marlins defeated Roanoke College 2-0 in the other semifinal. Lynchburg has won four of the last six titles and seven since the turn of the century.

The game’s only goal began with a corner kick. The back-post ball went through the hands of W&L goalie Emily Leary, and a mad scramble ensued as the ball fell just inches from crossing the goal line.

LC’s Shelly Hoath appeared to get a toe to the ball as she was being dragged down by Leary and redirected it across the face of the goal where Angela Bosco finally managed to poke the ball into the net.

"The goalie absolutely took down our player," Hornets coach Dr. Todd Olsen said. "It should have been a penalty kick. Well take it, though. At this point, goals are very hard to come by and you’ll take them any way you can get them."

The goal is Bosco’s fourth through two tournament games for Lynchburg. She missed LC’s final regular season game with a concussion she suffered in Lynchburg’s final ODAC game against VWC two weeks ago.

The Hornets dominated the first half. They out-shot the Generals 15-1 and saw several golden goal-scoring opportunities slip past them before halftime. W&L (13-4-2) had LC on its heels for parts of the second half, but the Hornets’ defense still held the Generals to just one shot on goal for the game.

"We played fantastic soccer in the first half," Olsen said. "I thought it was one of the better halves we’ve played. We just couldn’t get that rhythm back in the second half, but we held on against a good team. We did a great job defensively."

In other Lynchburg College action, the Hornets’ sixth-seeded men’s soccer team upset second-seeded Eastern Mennonite 2-1 in an ODAC tournament semifinal game. Senior Ryan Renfro (Brookville) scored both goals, his first two goals of the season for the Hornets. The game-winner came in the 67th minute.

The Hornets (7-8-4) will travel to Randolph College on Saturday at a yet to be determined time in the ODAC championship game. The winner will receive the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Lynchburg’s volleyball team defeated visiting Guilford 3-0 in an ODAC tournament quarterfinal match. The semifinals and finals will be held Saturday at Washington & Lee.