Salem, Va. -- The men's lacrosse team defeated #5 Tufts University 20-8 at Kerr Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Maroons improved their record to 4-2, while the Jumbos (4-1) dropped their first game of the season.

Roanoke, ranked #18 in the country (USILA), netted a season-best 20 goals this afternoon, and it was the highest scoring output since blanking Guilford 20-0 on April 14 last spring. They outshot the Jumbos 50-23 and won the groundball battle 68-32, including a 23-7 advantage in the second period. The Maroons were successful in all but one of their clear attempts (21-22) and won 23-of-31 face-offs.

Tufts held a 3-2 advantage early in the second quarter before the Maroons' offensive attack exploded, scoring 13 of the next 15 goals over the next 25 minutes to put the Jumbos away. The Maroons outscored Tufts 9-2 in the second period to give them an 11-4 advantage at the end of the first half.

With Roanoke up 15-5 late in the third, Tufts scored two goals in the final five seconds to bring them to within eight, 15-7, to start the fourth period. The Jumbos scored again, but an illegal stick penalty negated the goal, and a player was penalized for three minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Maroons took advantage of their man-up opportunity, as they scored two goals to give them a 17-7 lead with 12:08 to go. The men continued to pound away at Tufts, scoring the final three goals of the period, including Matt Nicola's back-to-back goals, which tied a career-high.

Billy Cameron had a phenomenal game with one goal, one assist, 10-of-14 face-off wins, and a team-best 15 groundballs. He needs just 20 more to pass Aaron Sims '94 for second all-time at Roanoke. The groundball mark tied a career-high for Cameron.

Ashton Hotchkiss finished with team highs of four goals and seven points, including three assists on the afternoon. Pat March scored two goals and led the Maroon attack with four assists. Matt Quinton netted four goals to lead the Maroons offensive barrage, while Justin Tuma, Jay Troja, and Nicola added two goals apiece in the win.

Chas Carlson had two goals and two assists for the Maroons, and he is now one point shy of tying Braxton Andrews '73 for 19th all-time in scoring at the college. His two assists passed Jeff Jones '97 for ninth all-time in that category, and he needs three more to move into eighth.

Jake Dorsey finished with three saves for Roanoke, while Matt Harrigan had 10 along with a team-high six groundballs for Tufts. Connor Ginsberg led the Jumbos with two goals and four shots on goal.

The team will travel to Virginia Beach on Saturday to take on Virginia Wesleyan in their second road game of the season. The Maroons hold a 15-2 all-time advantage vs. the Marlins and won 13-7 last season. The Maroons ODAC opener is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Tufts...............  2  2  3  1 -  8
RCMLAX08............  2  9  4  5 - 20
 
Attendance: 500
 
Tufts SCORING:
GOALS: Connor Ginsberg 2; Chase Bibby 1; Brett Holm 1; Brett Olson 1;
       Patrick Devine 1; Jordan Yarboro 1; Peter Whitney 1.
ASSISTS: D.J Hessler 1.
 
RCMLAX08 SCORING:
GOALS: Ashton Hotchkiss 4; Matt Quinton 4; Pat March 2; Chas Carlson 2;
       Justin Tuma 2; Matt Nicola 2; Jay Troja 2; Billy Cameron 1;
       Trey Keeley 1.
ASSISTS: Pat March 4; Ashton Hotchkiss 3; Chas Carlson 2; Steve Furdock 2;
         Mike Brennan 1; Billy Cameron 1; Noah Gibby 1; Stephen Simmons 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Tufts...............  5  4  7  7 - 23
RCMLAX08............ 11 14 15 10 - 50
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Tufts...............  9  7  8  8 - 32
RCMLAX08............ 16 23 14 15 - 68
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Tufts...............  1-5   2-12  2-7   3-7  -  8-31
RCMLAX08............  4-5  10-12  5-7   4-7  - 23-31
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Tufts...............  5-6   5-8   4-5   8-10 - 22-29
RCMLAX08............  5-5   5-5   5-5   6-7  - 21-22
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Tufts...............  0-0   0-0   0-1   0-0  -  0-1
RCMLAX08............  0-0   1-1   0-1   2-1  -  3-3
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Tufts...............  2  1  5  2 - 10
RCMLAX08............  0  1  0  2 -  3
 
PENALTIES - Tufts 3/3:00; RCMLAX08 1/0:30.

2008-03-18