VIRGINIA BEACH -- Hurricane Sandy started to make herself known late in the first half of Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's soccer quarterfinal game at Virginia Wesleyan College, but competition continued despite the wet, windy conditions.

When the final horn sounded at The Trinder Center, the host Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan owned an 8-0 victory over the Wasps of Emory & Henry College. The Marlins, ranked No. 5 nationally, advance to a home field semifinal game on Wednesday, Oct. 31, against the winner of game between Roanoke College and Bridgewater College at a time to be announced.

Virginia Wesleyan (18-0-1), the No. 1 seed in the tournament, utilized its deep bench to keep fresh players moving on a soggy Foster Field.  Seven Marlins scored overall, led by All-America Jessica Edelman (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) and rookie Jasmine Dao (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) with a pair of goals each.

Ironically, the game started with Emory & Henry (6-11) producing a serious scoring threat when Ashlie Caldwell (Blue Ridge/Lord Botetourt) got past her defender to launch a high shot from about 15 yards out on the left.  The ball sailed toward the upper corner of the right post where it was met by an outstretched VWC goalie Erica Keil (Wayne, N.J./DePaul Catholic) to knock it away.

From that point on however, it was all Virginia Wesleyan as the Marlins started scoring in the eighth minute.  Edelman put the ball into the net from five yards out, set up by a pass from senior Breanne Ingargiola (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point).  Edelman added the team's second goal on a 15 yard shot on the run from the left in the 12th minute.

Igargiolo and Dao followed with unassisted goals in the 17th and 30th minutes, respectively, with Dao connecting on an impressive boomer from about 30 yards out on the run.   The Marlins opened up a 5-0 lead before halftime when senior Allison Jaimes (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Shingle Springs Ponderosa) scored off a pass from rookie Kristen Cherry (Raleigh, N.C./Needham B. Broughton).

VWC head coach Jeff Bowers turned to his bench early in the first half and continued to pull players into the game throughout the second half.  Twenty-seven Marlins played overall, keeping VWC moving smoothly.  Virginia Wesleyan tacked on three goals in the second half as rookie Theresa Yunger (Crownsville, Md./Annapolis) scored off an assist from sophomore Sara Nickle (Pennsville, N.J./Memorial), juniorEmily Sheridan (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) tallied off a pass from Caitlyn Bishop (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne), and Dao added a final goal on a short shot set up by Katrina Ditta (Charlottesville/Fluvana County).

Virginia Wesleyan produced a 28-5 advantage in shots, while Emory & Henry posted a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

VWC used three goalies, starting with Keil who recorded one save in the first half.  Rookie Cat Brown (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) added two saves in 22 minutes and rookie Mackenzie McGurgan (Conway, Pa./Freedom Area) posted a save in closing out the competition.  Sarah Jerome (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) produced 11 saves for the Waps.

--AMDG--