Despite a valiant effort, the short-benched field hockey women came home from Saturday's game at Virginia Wesleyan on the short end of a 2-0 decision.  EMU has two more road games this coming week as they look to force their way into the six-team ODAC Tournament.

Still in search of their first conference win, the Royals are just one game back from sixth-place Randolph-Macon.  The women play the Yellow Jackets in Ashland on Monday in a game crucial to the ODAC standings.  An R-MC win would clinch a tourney berth for them, while a win by the Royals could forge a two- or three-way tie in the race for the final spot.

Eastern Mennonite wraps up the year at Lynchburg College on Thursday.

Against Virginia Wesleyan, the Royals' small roster was already put to test with senior defender Brianna Kauffman (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) missing the game with an illness.  After attacker Megan Bishop (Blooming Glen, Pa./Christopher Dock) left with an injury in the 10th minute, the women had no subs.

Still they played even with the Marlins.

In the 32nd minute, VWC cracked the cage after a corner, with Valentina Jones scoring to make it 1-0.

Melissa Cox (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield), who provided many of the looks in the first half, had a chance to equalize on a stroke with less than a minute to play in the half, but VWC's Skye Swain made the save to keep Cox out.

The Royals came out strong in the second half, firing five shots over the first 16 minutes.  But the Marlins' defense held, and their depth eventually won the day, adding a goal from Melissa Rideout in the 67th minute for the final margin.

Kelsey Troyer (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) made 10 saves in between the pipes as EMU was out-shot 17-12 overall and 12-9 on goal.  Cox had five attempts with four on the mark, while Emily Augsburger (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) had two shots on goal.

Game time with Randolph-Macon on Monday is 4:00pm.