HARRISONBURG, Va. – The EMU Lady Royals held off a last ditch effort in the final minutes by the Roanoke College to seal the 1-0 victory and give the Maroons their first loss of the season in the ODAC.

The first period showcased a strong defense on both sides. EMU goalie Joy Shaiebly (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) and Roanoke goalie Jess Simmers shut down their opponents with stellar play around the net. Shaiebly finished the day with eight saves while Simmers had four.

The second period started out almost identical to the first with both teams fighting for field position. With a little less than seven minutes remaining, senior Heather Bauman (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) set up senior striker Ellie Lind (Durban, South Africa/Three Rivers (Mich.)) for the first goal of the game. The goal was Lind's 12th of the season and places her in a tie for second place in the ODAC.

The Maroons increased the intensity and put more pressure on the Lady Royal defense. Leading ODAC scorer Jill Hoffmeister was able to penetrate deep into EMU territory with less than a minute left and takes what could have been the tying shot. Shaiebly, as she did all day, responded with an outstanding save diving to her left to deflect the goal wide and seal the victory for EMU.

With the win EMU improves to 5-2 overall and will head into next weeks match-up against archrival Bridgewater College with a 4-1 record in the ODAC.