VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The #1 Virginia Wesleyan College Women's Soccer Team (18-0-1) kept rolling with an 8-0 victory over the number eight seed Emory & Henry College (6-11) in the 2012 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, early Saturday afternoon. The Marlins are also ranked fourth in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
With the win, VWC will host Bridgewater College on Wednesday in the tournament semifinals. The Eagles slipped past Roanoke College, needing penalty kicks to decide the contest.
Virginia Wesleyan got two early goals from Jessica Edleman as she scored in the eighth and 12th minutes. Her first goal was assisted by Breanne Ingargiola who notched the third tally for the Marlins at the 16:21 mark.
VWC would score twice more in the first half to make the score 5-0 at the break. Despite the halftime deficit, the Emory & Henry defense forced Virginia Wesleyan's attackers offside 13 times in the opening period. Virginia Wesleyan would be called offside on 19 occasions over the course of the contest.
After the break, the Marlins got a quick goal to open the second half (47:59) as Theresa Yunger took Sarah Nickle's cross from the right side and put it past the goalkeeper. VWC added a pair of scores after the hour mark (62:51 and 68:44) with Emily Sheridan and Jasmine Dao being credited for the tallies.
Emory & Henry got scoring chances from sophomore midfielder Erica Merriman (Cornelius, N.C.), junior midfielder Ashlie Caldwell (Roanoke, Va.) and junior defender Kasey Simmons (Chesapeake, Va.) in the contest but were unable to crack the Virginia Wesleyan defense.
Wasp junior goalkeeper Sarah Jerome (Charlotte, N.C.) made 11 saves in the contest while Erica Keil, Mackenzie McGurgan and Catherine Brown combined for the shutout for the Marlins.
E&H concludes the 2012 season with a 6-11 record and a 5-7 mark in ODAC play. The five ODAC wins ties the program record for conference wins in a season, set in 2005. It is also the first time since the 2005 and 2006 seasons that the Wasps have reached the postseason in consecutive years.
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