Lynchburg Wins Third Straight Title

Win Sends Hornets into NCAA Tourney

HARRISONBURG, Va. --- The Lynchburg College field hockey team won its ninth-straight contest Saturday, and in doing so captured the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament title with a 4-2 victory over Eastern Mennonite University on the EMU Turf Field.

With the win, Lynchburg earned its third-consecutive league championship and will receive the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament Field. LC has also won 14 of its last 15 outings. Also, it was the Hornets' 12th ODAC title under Head Coach Enza Steele.

The visiting Hornets jumped on Eastern Mennonite early, as freshman Jordan Warrington scored her fourth goal of the season 2:43 into the contest on an assist from junior Signey Milks. LC took a two-goal advantage at the 18:43 mark, thanks to an Erin Funkhouser tally from Warrington.

Lynchburg then doubled its lead out to four with two goals over a span of 1:25 later in the first half. Junior Allie Weir (Richmond, VA/James River) notched her 35th goal of the season at 22:11 with help from Funkhouser, which was followed by another Funkhouser score at 23:36.

EMU scored with three minutes to go in the first stanza, making the count 4-1 on a goal by Alyssa Derstine. Derstine added another tally at the 68:20 mark of the game, but the Lynchburg defense held strong after EMU rattled shots of the crossbar and the right post.

The Hornets outshot the Lady Royals, 18-12, while EMU earned 15 penalty corners to LC's 13. Lynchburg keeper Sarah Cates made two saves, while Becky Nolt stopped six shots for the Lady Royals.

Four Lynchburg players earned All-ODAC Tournament Team honors, as Milks, Allie Weir, Funkhouser and Samantha Marano all were selected. Marano was also tabbed as the ODAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

The brackets for the NCAA Tournament will be released Monday morning, which will tell the Hornets who and where they will play this upcoming week.

This release is courtesy of the Lynchburg College sports information department.