Lynchburg, Va. -- Emily Yanes' hat trick helped University of Lynchburg's field hockey team extend its winning streak to six matches Wednesday night with a 5-2 win over Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival Roanoke College.

Yanes scored one in the first quarter and twice in the second to help the Hornets to a halftime lead, and then the senior assisted Lynchburg's final goal of the game in the third quarter to extend that advantage.

In the early going, though, Lynchburg found itself in a hole. Roanoke earned a breakaway just 5 minutes into the game that resulted in a Maroons penalty corner, and RC's Grace Vernarelli scored the game's opening goal.

After winning a corner of their own in the 12th minute, the Hornets tied the score. Brittany Claybaugh's insert went short to Yanes, whose shot caromed off a defender's stick and into the cage for the equalizer. The score was 1-1 after a quarter.

Yanes put the Hornets ahead for good in the second, again taking a corner feed from Claybaugh and scoring in the 20th minute. Yanes added a third goal less than 3 minutes later, this time chasing down a ball reigning ODAC player of the week Kessa Romero played into the circle and crossing the goalkeeper up with some nifty stick work.

Lynchburg built on the 3-1 lead after halftime. The Hornets earned a penalty stroke in the 35th minute that Franka Weronek put in the cage, and after a second Roanoke goal, Yanes played a ball into the circle that Marlou Wendriks knocked home in the 38th minute.

Earlier in the day, the Hornets checked in at No. 5 in NCAA Division III's Region VI rankings, the national office announced. The rankings are used by the NCAA's selection committee to determine the national tournament field and will be updated weekly until the tournament selections are announced in November.

Lynchburg (15-3, 6-1 ODAC) will look to complete the regular season with a seventh-consecutive victory at Eastern Mennonite. The whistle blows in Harrisonburg Friday night at 7.

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--LYN--