Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg men's lacrosse team begins their ODAC postseason campaign in the semifinal round, hosting conference rival Roanoke on Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets for tomorrow's game, click here.

The No. 14/11 Hornets cruised through their last five outings with victories to secure the second seed in the ODAC tournament, advancing directly to the semifinal round. Last time out, Lynchburg squared off against Randolph-Macon and earned a commanding 18-6 win. Junior attackman Riley Hastings paced the Hornets offense with five points on three goals and two assists, the fifth occasion this season that Hastings had tallied at least five points.

Earlier this season, the Hornets took down Roanoke in a thrilling affair with high powered offense, 19-18. Lynchburg used a 7-1 run across the third and fourth quarters to go in front and took a 19-16 advantage with 4:53 on the clock, allowing the Hornets to seal the victory. 

Since 1999, Lynchburg owns a 23-16 lead in the series against Roanoke. Each of the last 10 matchups between these two sides have gone to the Hornets. Last year, Lynchburg battled against the Maroons twice, once in the regular season and again in the ODAC Semifinals, taking victories of 18-15 and 12-6, respectively. 

As a squad, the Hornets have the fifth-highest scoring offense in the country and second best in the conference, averaging 17.76 goals per affair. Lynchburg also has the third-best scoring defense in the ODAC this season, allowing just 9.0 goals per game, which results in the team having the seventh-ranked scoring margin across DIII (+8.76 goal margin per game).

Junior faceoff specialist Riley Frankel and the draw unit win .635 percent of faceoffs this season, the second-best mark in the ODAC and 26th-best in the country. Individually, Frankel ranks third in the conference in faceoff win percentage at .633 percent. Senior goalkeeper Andrew Miller boasts the second-highest save percentage in the ODAC this season at .534 percent. On the offensive end, Hastings (27g, 26a) and fifth year middie Jake Rust (44g, 6a) lead the way with 53 and 50 points, respectively. Sophomore midfielder Liam Holman is close behind with 47 points on 27 goals and 20 assists.

The Maroons have the second-highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 19.44 goals per outing, which is the best mark in the conference. Along with that, Roanoke has tallied the most points in division III this season with 562 total (31.22 per game). The Maroons also take care of the rock, turning the ball over just 15.06 times per game, the fifth-least in the country and least in the ODAC. Wyatt Whitlow tops the conference in goals per game with 2.72 per contest, while Luca Docking scores the second most goals per game in the ODAC with a 2.65 average.

Tomorrow's outing is shaped up to be another great battle in this storied rivarly. The winner of tomorrow's game will advance to the ODAC Championship, which will take place on Saturday, May 3 at the highest remaining seed's home stadium.

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