ASHLAND, VA (April 26, 2008) – Yellow Jackets' attackman Billy Rowe scored three goals and added one assist and Paul Johnson and Tyler Watkins notched two tallies apiece as Randolph-Macon College's lacrosse squad secured the program's first ever berth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament with an 11-7 defeat of visiting Hampden-Sydney College on Saturday afternoon. Yellow Jackets net minder Ray Wadorski was a monster in the cage, racking up 23 saves, including two huge stops in the third period to aid the R-MC cause. Hampden-Sydney was led by sophomore Kyle Jett (Suffolk, VA/Nanesmond Suffolk) and junior Andrew Mahoney (Littleton, CO/Littleton) who each scored twice, but never held a lead in a game that ultimately eliminated the Tigers from postseason contention.

Randolph-Macon, who will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming ODAC Tournament, improves to 7-5 overall and 2-4 in conference play while the Tigers conclude their season with an even 7-7 overall record, 2-4 in the ODAC.

The Yellow Jackets set the tone of the contest early on both sides of the ball, scoring the first two goals of the game and holding the Tigers scoreless for the opening 14:59 of the contest, until Jett broke through with one second to play in the opening period as R-MC held a 2-1 advantage after the first quarter.

Hampden-Sydney evened the score at 2-2 with 9:27 remaining in the first half on a Kenny Mathison (East Northport, NY/Northport) strike, but the Jackets answered with two goals of their own to extend their lead to 4-2 midway through the second frame. Jett's second tally of the game with 1:51 to play in the half cut the Tigers' deficit to one, 4-3, heading into the break.

The teams traded scores to begin the second half before Randolph-Macon seized control again with another duo of unanswered strikes to extend its lead back to three, 7-4, heading into the final period of play. Wadorski played a major role in keeping the Tigers at bay, stopping two point-blank Hampden-Sydney scoring opportunities to help the Yellow Jackets maintain the three goal advantage.

Mahoney managed a shorthanded goal and senior Joe Daugherty (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) recorded another to bring the Tigers within 7-6 at the 10:22 mark of the final stanza. Doug Carpenter's (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul's) goal following a Randolph-Macon score kept the Hampden-Sydney deficit at one, but the Yellow Jackets closed the game on a 3-0 scoring run while stifling the Tigers' attack with a smothering zone defense to claim the historic victory.

Hampden-Sydney out-shot the Yellow Jackets 43-33 and scooped 12 more ground balls (44-32), but Wadorski, who was making his first start of the season in goal, proved to be the deciding factor with his stellar play between the pipes.