Tuesday, March 7, 2005
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne

Roanoke Downs Roger Williams 24-8; Bill Pilat Earns His 150th Career Win
Story Courtesy of the Roanoke Sports Information Department

SALEM, VA--The Roanoke College men's lacrosse team improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 1982 season, that following a 24-8 win  over Roger Williams University on Tuesday afternoon in Sanford, FL. The Maroons, who are ranked 10th in the USILA Division III national poll and #9 in the Laxpower.com national tally, also give head coach Bill Pilat his 150th career victory. The Hawks fall to 0-2 overall on the season following their first ever meeting with the Maroons.

The first 15 minutes ended with the Hawks trailing by just one goal, 3-2. After Roanoke's Zack Thomas (Bel Air, MD/St. Paul's) gave the Maroons a 1-0 lead, the Hawks scored the next two goals to take the 2-1 lead. Ross Baker and  defenseman Joel Cohen each scored unassisted goals for the Hawks. The Maroons, however, scored two consecutive man-up goals before the end of the first quarter to take the lead for good. Tug Schroeder (Cincinnati, OH/Sewickley) and freshman Matt Duke (Westminster, MD/Westminster) scored on the extra-man advantage to give RC the lead.

A close game slanted heavily in Roanoke's favor in the second quarter. The Maroons outscored the Hawks 10-1 in the quarter to put the game out of reach. Sophomore Jon Mason (Orangeville, ONT, Canada/Orangeville) scored two of the first three goals of the period, and then tallied the last, while Chris Keating (Chatham,NJ/Chatham) scored two goals and added an assist in the period. Six different Maroons scored in the quarter, including freshman Billy Cameron (Salem, VA/Salem), who also won nine off 11 face-offs in the period. His goal came directly off of his own fastbreak face-off win,  after Duke scored his second goal of the game. The Maroons built themselves a 13-2 lead before the Hawks scored with 1:19 left in the half.

Roger Williams scored the first two goals of the second half, one coming from Baker on a man-up advantage, but the Maroons rattled off
five of the next six goals to extend their lead to 18-6 heading into the fourth quarter. Sophomore Brendan Moore (Columbia, MD/Mt. Hebron)
was the offensive power for the Maroons in the third, scoring four  times. Mason added his fourth of the game in the period and also
assisted on one of Moore's goals, off of a failed RWU clear. The assist was Mason's first of the season.

Maroon freshman Cody Kelly (Chapel Hill, NC/East Chapel Hill) opened the scoring for the Maroons in the final period, scoring on a one-touch shot of an Adam Leahy (Cohassett, MA/Williston Northampton) pass. Kelly's goal was the first of his college career. Matt Nicole (Glenwood, MD/Glenelg) and Mike Hadley (New London, NH/Kimball Union) also got the first goals of the Maroon careers, with Nicola finishing the day with two goals and an assist. The Maroons had extended their
lead out to 21-6 before the Hawks scored twice with less than six minutes to play in the contest. Cameron added his second of the day,
on a Nicola assist to make the final score 24-8.

Both Schroeder and Mason each finished the game with four goals and one assist, with two of Schroeder's goals coming on the man-up  advantage. Cameron led all Maroons with 11 groundballs and also won 17 of his 27 face-offs in the contest. Dan Reed (Columbus, OH/Upper Arlington) each had four GBs for the Maroons.


The Maroons look to improve to 5-0 on the season on Wednesday as they will take on the Bombers of Ithaca College at 7:00pm in Vero Beach, FL. The Bombers come into the contest ranked as high as #11 in the  nation. This will be the first meeting between the Maroons and Ithaca since the 1992 NCAA Semifinal Round, a 20-10 Roanoke victory.