The Eastern Mennonite University field hockey team avenged their only conference loss of 2008 as the Lady Royals handed Washington & Lee a 6-0 defeat on the turf field to advance to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship game on Saturday, November 8.

The ODAC Championship will be hosted by EMU with the Lynchburg College making a return trip to Harrisonburg, Va. This will be the third straight year the Lady Royals have advanced to the championship round against the Hornets and the second straight year they will host. EMU and Lynchburg have matched up 12 times in the past with each team boasting 11 ODAC Championships.

"We were not pleased with how we played against them earlier this season so it was good to come out and redeem ourselves tonight," commented head coach Brenda Bechler.

The Lady Royals got a hat trick (three goals) from sophomore forward Katie Cimini (Cape May, NJ/Middle Township), who scored all three goals in the second period.

Alyssa Derstine (Telford, Pa./Christopher Dock) scored her team leading 22nd goal of the year and assisted on a goal by Valerie Landis (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown Sr.).

Julie Denlinger (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) also scored a goal, her 11th on the year, and assisted on the final goal of the game by Cimini.

EMU withstood an early charge by the Generals in the first period as Washington & Lee got five shots off in the first 10 minutes of the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Becky Nolt (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) had three saves and cleared out two other attempts by the Generals that were sent in from just outside the circle.

W&L keeper Caroline Habliston had eight saves in the loss.

The home team also benefited from another strong defensive effort from senior Kristina Landis (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock), junior Karissa Sauder (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite), and sophomores Hailee Rittle (Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon), and Vanessa Landis (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown Sr.). Along with Valerie Landis, the quartet helped shut down a General team that scored three goals on the Lady Royals with Sauder and Vanessa Landis each recording a defensive save.

EMU held a 20-14 advantage in shots with the Generals edging out the Lady Royals 16-13 in penalty corners.