Box Score SALEM, VA – The Randolph College men's soccer team scored two first-half goals and held on in the second stanza to defeat Roanoke College 2-1 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action from Kerr Stadium Saturday evening.
The win over the Maroons was Randolph's first-ever in men's soccer play, and it also clinched a playoff spot for the WildCats in next week's postseason ODAC Tournament. The victory for Randolph also handed Roanoke its first conference loss of the season.
The WildCats currently sit tied for fourth place with Washington & Lee University with 15 points. Each team has one game left, but the WildCats (12-5/5-4 ODAC) could rise as high as third in the standings with a win Tuesday at Guilford College and a non-win by W&L against Emory & Henry College. Current third place holder Randolph-Macon College is done with ODAC play with 17 points.
Roanoke (12-4-1/7-1-1 ODAC) had the game's first chance two minutes in, as Brian White had a breakaway but Carter Smith (Greensboro, NC/Grimsley) came off his line to knock the shot away. In the 10th minute, Randolph jumped out on top as Corey Sindle (Gloucester, VA/Gloucester) stinged the netting with a blast from 20 yards out. The goal for Sindle was his first in four games, though he still leads the ODAC with 10 on the year.
The WildCats extended their lead to 2-0 in the 28th minute, as Tyler Gilchrist (Bedford, VA/Liberty) made two nice moves and broke in alone. Roanoke keeper Avery Makel charged out to try to cut the angle off, but Gilchrist chipped a left footed shot into the right side of the net for the score. The goal for Gilchrist was his first as a WildCat after transferring to the College last year.
After the halftime break, Roanoke began to push forward and earned a corner kick with 63:40. After the corner kick, Jake Mercer snuck a shot past Smith with help from Peyton Lambert to pull the hosts to within one. After the goal, the game settled down into a defensive struggle and only two more shots were fired in regulation as the WildCats held on for the victory.
Randolph held a slight 7-6 edge in the shot category, though Roanoke earned all but one of the nine corner kicks awarded in the contest. Smith finished with three saves on the evening, while Makel had two stops.
The WildCats will look to up their record win total to 13 Tuesday with the final regular season game of the year at Guilford College at 7 p.m.
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