Lynchburg, Va. -- Luke Mega nearly lost possession in the midfield.

But the University of Lynchburg sophomore was stronger than his Randolph opponent, reversed field on him, and threaded through traffic. Then, with the slightest bit of daylight between WildCat defenders, he curled a shot from the top of the 18-yard box just inside the right post.

Mega's 64th-minute goal put the fourth-seeded Hornets on top of their crosstown rivals, 3-2, and Lynchburg held on to win by that score and advance into the Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's soccer semifinals. The Hornets will head to Hampden-Sydney on Friday to play for a berth in the championship.

The game-winner was Mega's second of the match. The reigning ODAC rookie of the year put Lynchburg ahead early, finishing a through-ball from Joey Daly right in front of the Randolph keeper to put the hosts ahead early.

Lynchburg (6-3-1) then made it a two-score game thanks to Josh Auger's right-footer just in front of the net, tapped in off a Nick Foley header. The goal was set up by Ben Mackey's free kick just inside the offensive third, earned when Mackey was fouled.

The WildCats (5-3-1) halved the lead before halftime, though, thanks to a Wes Boor goal.

After the break, Randolph applied sustained pressure that wound up with a foul in the box that set up an Evan Blow penalty kick in the 57th minute.

The match seemed to stagnate on the Lynchburg end until Mega's explosive goal put the Hornets back in front, and Lynchburg rode that momentum to victory.

The Hornets, winners of five straight against their rivals from the north side of town, advance to a conference tournament semifinal for the fifth-straight year. In it, they'll look to do what they did last season: knock off top-seeded Hampden-Sydney on the Tigers' home turf. The time for Friday's match is yet to be determined.

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--LYN--