RICHMOND, VA (October 15) -- Three different Lady Monarchs scored first-halfgoals to lead Old Dominion to a 3-2 victory over CAA-rival Richmond. Withthe win, Old Dominion moves to 7-6-0 overall, 2-4-0 in the CAA as Richmond fallsto 8-7-1 overall, 0-4-0 in the CAA.
In perhaps the most important CAA game of the season for OldDominion, the Spiders jumped out on top in the 19th minute as defender Nicole Froman scoredon a through ball from Courtney Morgan. The Lady Monarchs stormed back, scoring justover a minute later as sophomore midfielder Sarah Hirst (Virginia Beach, VA) landedher second goal of the season from ten yards out on an Anna Gruzalski (OakRidge, TN) assist.
Richmond then took a 2-1 lead in the 22nd minute of play as forwardKirsi Cronk blasted the ball in off the far post on assists by Jaclyn Raviea and CourtneyFicken. In the 31st minute, Gruzalski landed her first strike of the season, firing in aloose ball in the box.
With the game knotted at two, senior midfielder Nicky Koclanes(Pelham, NY) netted her first goal in two seasons off a Lauren Rafal (Virginia Beach, VA)assist, in what proved to be the game-winner for the Lady Monarchs.
In the second-half neither team was able to score, though Richmondlaunched eight shots on goal. For the game, sophomore keeper Tonya Dedmond (NorthPotomac, MD) had seven saves for the Lady Monarchs, who were outshot for only thesecond time this season, 19-11.
The win is the second in a row for Old Dominion after dropping threestraight and falling to 0-4 in the CAA. The team returns to action on Sunday as ittravels to Pennsylvania to take on the University of Pittsburgh at 1:00 pm.
SCORING SUMMARYODU 3-2=3UR 2-0=2
UR 18:07 Nicole Froman from Courtney MorganODU 19:29 Sarah Hirst from Anna GruzalskiUR 21:39 Kirsi Cronk from Jaclyn Raveia and Courtney FickenODU 30:31 Anna Gruzalski unassistedODU 39:06 Nicky Koclanes from Lauren Rafal
SHOTS ON GOAL: ODU (11), UR (19)CORNERS: ODU (4), UR (5)GOAL SAVES: ODU-Dedmond (7), UR?Samuhel (3)FOULS: ODU (13), UR (9)