Lynchburg College lacrosse team advaces to ODAC tourney finals

Visiting, Randolph-Macon College knew it was going to have its hands full with fourth-ranked Lynchburg College in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference mens lacrosse tournament semifinals Tuesday.

So the Yellow Jackets dropped back into a tight a zone defense to try and slow down the high-flying Hornets’ offense.

And, it worked for the first 30 minutes as RM-C (7-7) went into the half trailing just 8-3.

But LC’s offense finally broke through in a big way in the third quarter by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 8-0 as the Hornets (15-2) cruised to a 22-5 victory.

“They played a zone and it frustrated us at times, but we stayed with the game plan and kept on getting shots,” Lynchburg coach Steve Koudelka said.

Even though the score was close at halftime, the Hornets had dominated the play.

LC outshot RM-C 31-6 in the first half. The Hornets outshot the Yellow Jackets 56-20 and 15 different players scored for LC.

“It was just a matter of time before our guys broke through the chain,” Koudelka said. “Our guys wanted this thing.”

Said Lynchburg senior attack Johnny Black: “At halftime coached talked to us about coming right out of the half and burying them. And, that’s what we did.”

The Hornets’ reward for their patience is hosting Sunday’s 1 p.m. ODAC championship against the winner of today’s Virginia Wesleyan-Washington & Lee semifinal.

“That will be five out the six years we have been in the championship game and that in and of itself is not easy to do,” said. Koudelka. “We are glad to be in it but I know the players thoughts are, ‘We’ve still got work to do.’ We’ve got one more to go. That’s the way it’s been all year.

“It’s nice that’s its going to be at home and I’m sure there’s going to be a nice crowd.”

It will be Lynchburg’s fourth consecutive trip to the ODAC championship game. Though, the only time the Hornets won the title was 2005 when these seniors were freshmen.

“It feels pretty awesome,” said Black. “(LC’s eight seniors) have been there three times and won it only once.

“Bringing the ODAC championship game to this field is something special. It’s time we brought home another (championship).”