The Roanoke College women’s soccer team will kick off the 2017 season with the Roanoke Invitational this weekend at Kerr Stadium in Salem. The Maroons host St. John Fisher on Friday at 6:30 pm before facing Brockport State on Saturday at 5:30 pm.
The Maroons come into the season as the sixth ranked team in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, as determined by a vote of the conferences coaches. Two squads stand atop the poll as both Washington and Lee University and Lynchburg College earned 138 points. The Generals have a slight edge in the survey after receiving seven first place votes, while the Hornets garnered the remaining six.
Virginia Wesleyan University sits third with 120 markers, while Bridgewater College and Shenandoah University each cleared the century mark with 105 and 103 tallies in fourth and fifth position, respectively.
Roanoke College will face four teams that made it to the 2016 NCAA tournament, three of which are Old Dominion Athletic Conference members. Last season, Roanoke finished 9-6-4 overall and 7-3 in conference games after advancing to the ODAC Quarterfinals.
RC matches up against Wheaton (Ill.) in day one and Salisbury on day two of the Shellenberger Classic Sept. 8-9 on the campus of Lynchburg. Roanoke stays on the road for the next three contests, traveling to in-state foe Ferrum on Sept. 13, Randolph-Macon on Sept. 16 and Christopher Newport on Sept. 20 for a midweek match up with 2016 Capital Athletic Conference champions.
Roanoke hosts Eastern Mennonite on Sept. 23 during the College’s Family Weekend. The Maroons travel to North Carolina to face the Quakers on Sept. 27, before returning home on the 30th to close out September against Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins earned an at large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament following a runner-up finish in the ODAC Championship.
First Team All-ODAC selection Emily Whitaker and second team member Laura Sullivan return for their senior campaign with the Maroons.