Bridgewater, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's women's soccer team continued its quest for back-to-back Old Dominion Athletic Conference titles Saturday afternoon with a 5-1 victory over Randolph-Macon in the semifinals at Bridgewater College.

Senior forwards Hannah Olds (Wilmington, N.C.) and Caitlin Mertens (Succasunna, N.J.) each scored twice, and Alyssa Kopsidas (Rockville, Md.) also scored for the Hornets.

Both defenses held early as each goalkeeper was forced into action in the opening minutes, but Lynchburg managed a sustained attack from a corner at the 23:45 mark until Olds directed a Mertens pass into the back of the net in the 31st minute to open the scoring. The Hornets would carry that lead into halftime.

The second half was a different story, as Lynchburg used a three-goal flurry in a four-minute span to blow the game open. Mertens scored on an assist by graduate student midfielder Rachel Cooke (Charlottesville, Va.) in the 56th minute, quickly followed by Olds' second goal, assisted by senior defender Katie Waring (Chester, Va.) in the 59th minute and Mertens' 60th-minute unassisted score.

Mertens' second goal was her 25th of the season; she becomes just the fourth player in Lynchburg women's soccer history to reach that plateau in a single year.

Randolph-Macon's Bonita Soliday broke up the shutout bid in the 62nd minute, but Lynchburg's defense allowed just two more shots the rest of the way as the Hornets rolled into the championship.

Kopsidas put the cherry on top of the win with her 71st-minute goal, assisted by sophomore midfielder Dana Seavey (Mendham, N.J.).

Lynchburg out-shot Randolph-Macon, 22-7, in the match. The win avenged a regular-season loss to the Yellow Jackets, Lynchburg's only conference loss of the season.

The third-seeded Hornets will take on fourth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bridgewater. Lynchburg erased a 2-0 deficit in the waning minutes of the teams' October 23 regular-season meeting in Virginia Beach, Va.

Admission for the ODAC title match will be $10 for adults and $5 for children. College students get in free with student ID. 

--LYN--