EMU's soccer men are picking up steam at just the right time.  They netted three goals in a road win Wednesday night at Emory & Henry, and now have shut out their last three ODAC opponents.  The surge has them back in the playoff picture, just one point out of a seventh-place tie.  The top eight make the ODAC Tournament.

The Royals dominated their 3-0 win at EHC.  After a 13-4 advantage in shots over the opening 43 minutes, Eastern Mennonite finally broke through just 1:01 before halftime.  Junior Jake Lind (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) continued his strong play by taking a pass from Mark Mast (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and burying it into the lower left of the net.

In the 64th minute, Lind struck again.  This time he got an assist from Jonathan Bush (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), taking a cross from the right side for a 2-0 lead.  Bush then got his own goal less than seven minutes later, knocking in a header from a Juan Luna (Mount Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson) corner kick.

EMU took the final part of the game to work deep into their bench, but still preserved the shutout.

The Royals had a 26-7 control of shots, including 10-4 on goal.  They also fired 12 corner kicks compared to none for Emory & Henry.  Andrew Yoder (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and Ryan Zerkel (Mount Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson) combined for the shutout, with Yoder collecting three saves while Zerkel picked up one over the final 16 minutes.

Lind, who led the team with seven shots, has seven points over his last two games on three goals and one assist.

Eastern Mennonite now has three straight ODAC shutout wins: 1-0 over Randolph-Macon, 2-0 over Guilford, and 3-0 against the Wasps.  The men did have a 1-0 loss to Johns Hopkins after the R-MC win, but are holding opponents scoreless over a span of 183:49.

At 6-7-2 overall and 3-4 in the conference, the Royals get a big test on Friday when they host first-place Roanoke.  The Maroons are undefeated in the ODAC at 6-0-1.  Game time is 7:00pm in Harrisonburg.