Facing a "win and you're in, lose and you're out" situation Tuesday at Hollins, the Lady Royals played like the weather. It was a rainy day, and the harder it rained the harder the women attacked. A second-half downpour spelled a big win for Eastern Mennonite, 4-1, to clinch a spot in the postseason.

EMU entered the regular season's final game tied for eighth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings, with the top eight making the postseason tournament. EMU was tied with Emory & Henry and also held the tie-breaker in that match, but a loss to Hollins would eliminate the Lady Royals on tie-breakers no matter what the Wasps did in their final game. In simple terms, EMU needed to win.

The first half was an even fight, as neither team could get a good look at the goal. But with time waning the first period, Jordan Barkus (Millersburg, Pa./Millersburg) found Valerie Burton (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) who scored the goal with :36 seconds left.

The Lady Royals took the late lead into halftime before the floodgates opened in the second - literally. The rainy conditions turned into a downpour, and when it did EMU went to work.

Burton nailed a penalty kick at 47:50. Within minutes, Courtney Shifflett (Waynesboro, Va./Riverheads) put in a direct kick to make it 3-0. Katrina Goering (Columbus, Oh./Grandview Heights) added a fourth goal for EMU, which was the first score of the sophomore's season. She was assisted by Kacie Ruark (Baltimore, Md./Western). In all, the Lady Royals scored four goals in the span of 10:58.

Hollins added a late goal, but the Lady Royals rolled out with a 4-1 win, clinching the eighth seed in the ODAC tournament.

Each team fired 24 shots in the contest. Abby Diffenbach (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) collected 17 saves in goal.

EMU ends the regular season with a 7-10 record, including 4-7 in the ODAC. The women play Saturday, Oct. 31, in the ODAC quarterfinals at Virginia Wesleyan, the top seeded team.