Maroons shut out EMU soccer men in Salem

The EMU Royals couldn’t dig themselves out of a bad first half, which snowballed into a 4-0 loss at Roanoke in men’s soccer action Wednesday night.

EMU falls to 5-7-3 overall and 0-3-1 in the ODAC. The men started the year 5-1-2, but haven’t won since a 2-0 shutout of Albright on Sept. 17.

Suffering from a mix of injuries, illnesses and a front-heavy ODAC schedule, the men will look to start a strong finish to the year on Saturday, hosting Guilford College. Game time during EMU’s Homecoming is 7:00pm.

At 0-2-1, the Quakers are tied with EMU and Hampden-Sydney for ninth at one point in the league standings. The top nine make the postseason tournament.

Roanoke College (6-4-2/3-0-1 ODAC) came out aggressively, and scored just 3:32 in on a corner kick. A header in the 28th minute made it 2-0. Jesus Trejo (Winchester, Va./John Handley) attempted EMU’s only shot of the first half.

Eastern Mennonite started the second period more organized and won the first 15 minutes. In the 58th minute, Juan Luna (Mount Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson) had a shot blocked to earn a corner kick. He launched the corner but Parker Leap (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) sent a header wide.

Despite the surge, Roanoke was the first team to score after the intermission, getting an own goal after a corner in the 67th. The home team added one more in the 78th minute.

The Maroons had a 22-8 advantage in shots (17-1 in the first half), including 12-1 on goal. Matthew Overacker (Mount Crawford, Va./Turner Ashby) collected eight saves.

The team’s leading scorer, Luna, returned to the lineup after a two-game absence due to illness and had three shots, including EMU’s only on-target attempt. All-ODAC defender Emmanuel Boamah (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) missed his third straight contest.