Holschuh, Kirkham Lead VWC to Huge 1-0 Win over Maroons

SALEM, Va. -- Robert Holschuh scored in the 26th minute and Connor Kirkham made four saves as the Virginia Wesleyan men's soccer team netted a huge 1-0 victory over Roanoke College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play Saturday.

The win helps solidify Virginia Wesleyan's spot in the ODAC tournament while Roanoke is still securely in third in the ODAC standings.

Virginia Wesleyan did a good job of keeping the pressure on Roanoke and its keeper Cole Sinclair early. Alex Castelli took a shot on Sinclair at 30:17 that was saved, leading to a corner kick by Josh Kemp a minute later. The Marlins kept the ball in the Maroons' half of the pitch where Robert Holschuh found the left side of the net at 26:30.

Roanoke put two shots on goal the remainder of the half, but Kirkham turned one away while Brian Le stopped the other. Le's play was one of three team saves made by the Marlins as they attempted to pack the box in against the high-powered Roanoke squad.

Roanoke outshot Virginia Wesleyan 15-7 with a large advantage in corner kicks (11-3).

Sinclair finished with two saves for Roanoke (10-5-1/6-2-1 ODAC) to oppose Kirkham's four stops.

Virginia Wesleyan (7-5-2/4-3-2) travels to Bridgewater College (6-7-1/3-5) for an ODAC contest Wednesday at 4 p.m.

ODAC TOURNAMENT UPDATE

The top eight teams make the ODAC tournament. Quarterfinal games will be played on the site of the higher seed. The highest seed remaining will then host the semfinals and finals. Virginia Wesleyan has a chance to move into the top four seeds and secure a home quarterfinal due to Saturday's win over Roanoke. A win, coupled with a tie or loss by Lynchburg, would move VWC into the fourth spot.

Below are the current standings with games left in conference play only listed to the right.

1. Washington and Lee (8-0-1 - 25 pts.) – 2 left (at Randolph, vs. Roanoke)
2. Randolph (6-0-3 - 21 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Washington and Lee, at Shenandoah)
3. Roanoke (6-2-1 - 19 pts.) – 2 left (at Hampden-Sydney, at Washington and Lee)
4. Lynchburg (4-2-3 - 15 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Guilford, at Emory & Henry)
5. Virginia Wesleyan (4-3-2 - 14 pts.) – 2 left (at Bridgewater, vs. Guilford)
6. Randolph-Macon (4-5 - 12 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Shenandoah, vs. Bridgewater)
7. Bridgewater (3-5 - 9 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Virginia Wesleyan, at Randolph-Macon)
t8. Shenandoah (2-5-2 - 8 pts.) – 2 left (at Randolph-Macon, vs. Randolph)
t8. Emory & Henry (2-5-2 - 8 pts.) – 2 left (at Eastern Mennonite, vs. Lynchburg)
t8. Eastern Mennonite (2-5-2 - 8 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Emory & Henry, vs. Hampden-Sydney)
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11. Guilford (2-6 - 6 pts.) – 2 left (at Lynchburg, at Virginia Wesleyan)
12. Hampden-Sydney (2-7 - 6 pts.) – 2 left (vs. Roanoke, at Eastern Mennonite)