Despite a great showing by the EMU soccer women, a late goal gave visiting Roanoke a 1-0 ODAC decision Wednesday night in Harrisonburg.  The Royals fall to 3-6-1 with the loss, including 1-3 in the conference.

The first half was evenly played.  Despite Roanoke firing a lot of shots, not many were on target.  Marcy Smucker (Woodward, Pa./Penns Valley) put a shot on goal in the 16th minute, but a quick save kept EMU out.  The Maroons had a great chance less than two minutes before intermission, but send their shot high.

The Royals had some of their best looks early in the second.  After a great cross from Sierra Martin (Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs) in the 49th, Morgan Hill (Martinsville, Va./Carlisle) fired a shot which skimmed wide.  Then in the 58th minute, Martin and Nora Osei (Springfield, Va./Springfield) took off on a two-on-one break, but Martin's rip from the left side was blocked by RC's defender.

Just as the final minutes approached and restless fans started to think of overtime, Roanoke got their score.  After a cross from the right wing, the Maroons got a shot which bounced off the inside of the upright and just trickled across the line as it rolled along the face of the goal.

The Royals pushed for one last look, but Roanoke packed the defense in place and earned the shutout.

The shot totals were misleading.  The Maroons had a 25-5 advantage, although they took a number of harmless long range attempts.  Smucker finished with EMU's only shot on goal.  Martin had a team high two shots, with Hill and Sara Shenk Moreno (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) getting the other attempts.

In her second start of the year, freshman keeper Brianna Stanard (Spotsylvania, VA./Spotsylvania) charted six saves.

Eastern Mennonite heads to Sweet Briar this Saturday for a contest at noon.  The surprising Vixen (5-3 overall / 2-3 ODAC) are already showing one of their best seasons in program history.

Coach Ted Erickson talks about the well-played loss to Roanoke: