Aug. 28, 2004
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Sophomore forward Darcy Pinckbeck (Suffolk, Va.) lifted the Old Dominion field hockey team to a season opening victory over the Penn State Lady Lions by netting the game-winner with five seconds remaining in regulation.
The game marked the season opener for both teams as Old Dominion improved to 26-5 in season opening games. The Lady Monarchs also moved to 11-8 in the all-time series with Penn State and avenges last year's 2-6 loss to the Lady Lions.
Penn State's top returning scorer, Karin Grap, gave the Lady Lions the lead just over seven minutes into the game off a pass into the crease by teammate Shaun Banta. However, the Lady Lions would hold the lead for only five minutes as junior midfielder Jennifer Angat (Va. Beach, Va.), off a feed from Katie Claxton (Va. Beach), tied the game at 1-1 with 22:32 remaining in the half.
After a lightening delay of a 47 minutes, neither team finished the first half finding the back of the net and the game remained scoreless through most of the second half of action.
Sophomore and Under-21 team member Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) sent a long pass to the right post and Pinchbeck one-timed the ball past Penn State netminder Megan Akstin to stun the crowd of more than 500. Pinckbeck starts the season off right where she ended it. At the end of the 2003 campaign, she was clutch with game-winning goals against Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Game and Richmond in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The traditionally strong Old Dominion defense held up in the final minutes of the game. The Lady Lions had several key scoring chances late including a missed wide-open net shot by Grap with 19:20 left in the game. She was also later denied on a defensive save by junior Rosanna Delutis (Va. Beach, Va.) Penn State called timeout with 4:33 remaining to set up a penalty corner of its own, but Old Dominion was able to withstand the attack.
Penn State managed to outshoot the Lady Monarchs 10-9, including seven shots in the second half, but Old Dominion managed to hold the advantage in penalty corners, 8-5.
In her first career start, Old Dominion netminder Mary Cate Gordon (Oreland, Pa.) made five saves in net. Her counterpart, Akstin, recorded four saves for Penn State while allowing both Lady Monarch goals.
Saturday's game marked the first of a six-game road trip to open the season. The Lady Monarchs travel to Maryland on Saturday, September 4th to face the Terps at 1:00 p.m.