News Release

Women�s Soccer earn first-ever NCAA Tournament Win over Methodist

Salem, VA � The women�s soccer team hosted their first-ever NCAA Tournament game in school history on Saturday afternoon. They ended with their first-ever win over Methodist, 3-1 at Donald J. Kerr Stadium. The Maroons are now 3-8-1 all-time vs. the Monarchs, including their third in a row in their first meeting since 1999.

Junior midfielder Meredith Grunewald bent in shot from the right side of the field to give Roanoke a 1-0 lead. It was the quickest goal of the season for the Maroons, scoring 1:15 into the contest. It was also not only the first post-season goal of Grunewald�s career, but marked the first NCAA Tournament goal in the history of Roanoke College.

With 5:03 remaining in the half, junior forward Kristen McCoy scored her 15th goal of the season off of an assist from Melissa Laughlin to give the Maroons a 2-0 advantage. It was Laughlin�s fifth assist of the season. McCoy is now tied-fourth all-time in points (93) and tied for second in goals with 41.

Roanoke outshot Methodist, 23-13, 13-5 in the first half. The two first half goals were tied for the most allowed by the Monarchs all season.

The Monarchs bounced back in the second half as freshman forward Hevyn Diers scored with 27:56 remaining. She scored off an assists from senior midfielder Crystal Bradley to cut the deficit, 2-1. The goal was her 17th of the year for Diers, which ended the year with a team-high 40 points.

With 12:16 left in the game, sophomore forward Margaret Houston netted her 10th goal of the season off a breakaway to give the Maroons a 3-1 lead.

Diers finished with four shots, two on goal for the Monarchs. Bradley finished the game with one assist and two shots. The senior midfielder ends her final season with a team-high 41 points and 11 assists. Kasey Nichols had nine saves to end the year with 68 for 2007.

Grunewald finished with eight shots, three on goal. Sophomore midfielder Gina Valles had four shots, three on goal. Erin Hanson had three saves, which moved her into sole possession of fifth-place in saves with 161 for her career.

The Maroons as a team has won more games this season than the previous two seasons combined. They also became the third ODAC school to defeat the Monarchs this season.

The Maroons will play tomorrow in the NCAA Second Round vs. the winner of the Lynchburg/Maryville match at 6 p.m.


Submitted 2007-11-10 18:17:13 by Roanoke College Sports Information Department

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