VIRGINIA BEACH -- After struggling to find the back of the net in the last two outings, the Virginia Wesleyan College women's soccer team found the missing offense in a 7-0 victory over Eastern Mennonite University on Tuesday.

Rookies Lauren Shular (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) and Katie Roberts (Alexandria/Thomas A. Edison) were among six Marlins to score goals in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) game on Foster Field, as both players increased their team-leading goal totals to seven each.

Shular led the scoring surge with two scores, both within 10 minutes of one another in the second half. She booted her first one in on a running shot on the right from about 10 yards out, firing the ball into the left side of the net in the 67th minute.  She scored again in the 76th minute on a short kick into the right, set up by an assist by sophomore Annie Hartman (Leesburg/Tuscarora).

Hartman also put the ball into the net for the Marlins, capping the scoring with a five yard boot to the left corner, assisted by senior CeCe Valdez (Alto Loma, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos) with eight minutes remaining to be played.

Virginia Wesleyan (9-6-2, 7-3 ODAC) began its scoring in the 17th minute on a booming shot by rookie Zoe Traficante (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West).  She hit nothing but the back of the net on a shot from about 30 yards out on the right side.

Roberts followed with her goal in the 24th minute, putting the ball into the left corner from 10 yards out, and rookie Maddie Sanders (Midlothian/Midlothian) gave VWC a 3-0 lead in the 40th minute, scoring in close on the left on a cross from Roberts.

Eastern Mennonite (6-8-1, 4-5), which trailed 3-0 at halftime, managed only one shot in the second half and finished with four for the game.  Morgan Hill (Matinsville/Carlisle) led EMU with all four shots. VWC recorded 23 shots, including eight in the second half. Four resulted in goals.

Junior Kristen Cherry (Raleigh, N.C./Needham B. Broughton) started VWC's second half scoring with another boomer, this one from about 20 yards out into the upper left corner in the 64th minute.  Two minutes later, Shular found the net and the Marlins led 5-0.

Rookie goalie Brianna Stanard (Spotslyvania/Spotsylvania) recorded seven saves for the Royals through 90 minutes in goal.  Sophomore Megan Gerhart (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) protected the net for VWC in the first half and sophomore Tiffany Lennon (Carrollton/Smithfield) took over for the second half and recorded two saves.

Virginia Wesleyan plays its final regular season home game on Saturday, Oct. 25, hosting the Quakers of Guilford College at 2 p.m.  It will be Senior Day for the Marlins.

--AMDG--