Eastern Mennonite's soccer women played well Tuesday night, but in the end couldn't hold off the deeper Marlins, falling 3-0 to Virginia Wesleyan in their home finale.

The Royals defense was solid in the first half, but allowed one goal in the 28th minute.  The women had a couple of striking opportunities, the best coming in the closing seconds of the half, when Nora Osei's (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) shot went over the goal.

Virginia Wesleyan's depth gave them an edge in the second half, as they added scores in the 53rd and 65th minutes.  EMU kept pushing to the end, but couldn't dent the Marlins' defense.

The visitors had a 33-1 advantage in shots.  Despite a handful of scoring chances, Osei had the team's only attempt.  EMU's backline of Erica Detweiler (Hickory, N.C./Fred T. Foard), Asia Malcolm (Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker), Elisa Ott (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), Becca Borg (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) and Shelly Estep (Hopewell, Va./Hopewell) did a solid job of denying VWC many direct looks.

Rachel Klainer (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) started in goal and collected four saves before leaving with an injury.  Borg tallied eight saves after playing the first 32 minutes in the field.

The Royals slip to 9-7 with their third straight loss.  At 4-6 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, the women need a win at Guilford on Saturday to keep in the hunt for a spot in the upcoming ODAC Tournament.  Game time in Greensboro, N.C., is 6:00pm.