SALEM, Va. -- Roanoke staged a fourth-quarter rally to upend Hampden-Sydney, 17-12 in the ODAC Semifinals at Kerr Stadium Wednesday evening. With the win, the Maroons (17-0) will advance and host the ODAC Championship at Kerr against Washington & Lee. The Tigers end their season at 8-9.

Roanoke dominated on paper, winning the groundball war, 48-17, a 64-33 shots advantage and winning 25 of 33 face-offs. The men were successful in 20 of 22 clear attempts and 3 of 4 man-up opportunities.

Hampden-Sydney got up early, 2-1, before the Maroons scored four unanswered goals to make it 5-2 with 13:18 remaining in the second period. The Tigers recaptured the lead and retaliated back scoring six of the following nine goals to tie the contest at 8-all with 4:02 left in the third. HSC continued to pound away to take its first lead of the game as Andrew Mahoney found Kenny Mathison to make it, 11-10 with 13:18 left in the final stanza.

But Roanoke, who broke the ODAC single-season wins total with 17, have been in this predicament before and responded quickly. The Maroons reeled off seven-straight goals over the next 10 minutes to take a commanding 17-11 lead and eventually the game as they remain unbeaten.

Roanoke was led by Justin Tuma with three goals, 11 groundballs and 11 of 15 in face-offs. Jeff Keating also led the team with three goals, all in the final period as he sparked the late surge for the Maroons. Trey Keeley, Pat March and Brian Foley each added two goals and one assist in the win. Steve Furdock and Chas Carlson each totaled a goal and an assist.

Greg Khanzadian collected seven groundballs and won 10 of 14 face-offs. Sam Love and Stephen Simmons were big again for the Maroons, collecting eight and five groundballs, respectively. Love even had four caused turnovers to his credit.

The Tigers were led by Doug Carpenter with three goals followed by Kyle Jett with two goals and two assists to his credit. Carter Mavromatis had two goals and an assist while Andrew Mahoney added a goal and two assists. Ben Clarke also had two goals.

Mike Bagby finished with 14 saves in goal for the Tigers while Jake Dorsey had eight between the pipes for the Maroons. He is now second all-time in career wins with former Maroon goalie and current head coach Bill Pilat '85.

The Maroons will welcome W&L to play for the conference title Sunday, May 3 starting at 1:00 p.m. The Maroons won the regular season meeting, 14-13 in overtime as the last four meetings have been decided by one goal. The winner will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Div. III Men's Lacrosse Tournament.

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SALEM, VA (April 29, 2009)-The fourth seeded Hampden-Sydney Tigers were on the verge of an epic upset over first-seeded and top ranked Roanoke College as the two teams were locked in an 11-11 tie with 13:06 to play in the game. The Tigers' miracle run ended just short, however, as Roanoke was able to regain the lead and hold on to advance to the ODAC Finals on Sunday.

Hampden-Sydney threw the rankings and records out the window to start the game as senior Doug Carpenter (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's) opened up the scoring at the 11:41 mark. Roanoke did respond with a Chas Carlson goal, but junior Kyle Jett (Suffolk, VA/Nansemond-Suffolk) was there to put his team back on top 2-1. Roanoke then showed why they are the top team by reeling off three straight goals to end the quarter.

In the second quarter the Tigers proved they could keep up as the two teams traded goals back and forth for 15 minutes. Roanoke notched the first tally just two minutes in the quarter, but Micah Keller (Richmond, VA/Christchurch) fired right back just 90 seconds later. The two teams continued to trade goals with Ben Clarke (Virginia Beach, VA/Norfolk Academy) scoring two and Carpenter adding one in the period.

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2009-04-30