Oct. 24, 2004
NORFOLK, Va. -- The sixth ranked Old Dominion field hockey team collected a season-high nine goals, seven of them off of penalty corner opportunities, as they defeated Virginia Commonwealth, 9-2, on a soggy Foreman Field on Sunday afternoon.
The loss drops the Rams to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Lady Monarchs improved to 11-4 overall and remain undefeated in the CAA at 6-0. Both William & Mary and Old Dominion hold undefeated records in conference play heading into the final week of the regular season.
In all, five different Lady Monarchs found the back of Ram net. Senior Lynn Farquhar (Alexandria, Va.), sophomore Darcy Pinchbeck (Suffolk, Va.), sophomore Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) and junior Janelle Engle (Mt. Joy, Pa.) each scored twice, while sophomore Caroline Nichols (Va. Beach, Va.) added in a goal to go along with a career-high five assists. Virginia Commonwealth leading scorer Carlot Verloop had both goals in the loss.
Old Dominion raced out to a 5-2 lead after the first half. Virginia Commonwealth did strike first though as Verloop found her way past CAA Co-Player of the Week, Mary Cate Gordon (Oreland, Pa.) a mere 1:30 into the contest off an early penalty corner opportunity for the Rams. It did not take long however for the Lady Monarchs to tie the game. A minute later, Pinchbeck sent her own rebound off Virginia Commonwealth goalkeeper Brittany LoVullo, which would the first of four unanswered goals for Old Dominion.
Sensenig gave the Lady Monarchs the lead for good with 22:48 remaining in the half in the first of seven ODU penalty corner goals. With 17:16 left in the half, Engle, off another penalty corner, sailed what would be the eventual game-winner through the pipes.
The Rams' Verloop scored again with 8:39 remaining in the first half of play, Virginia Commonwealth's final goal of the afternoon. Farquhar rounded out the scoring in the first half with her first tally of the game with 7:41 left.
The Lady Monarchs collected four more goals in the second half and had 11 of its 18 penalty corners awarded.
Old Dominion outshot Virginia Commonwealth 21-7 and held the advantage in penalty corners, 18-6.
The Rams used three different goalkeepers in the loss. LoVullo started the game for the Rams playing the first 17 minutes of the game and returning midway through the second half. She allowed four goals and made two saves. Becca Leuzzi saw just over 27 minutes of play and allowed three goals while recording six saves. Amanda Kelly played the final 6:24 of the game in which the Lady Monarchs were able to score their final two goals. Old Dominion's Gordon made three saves.
The showdown for the top spot in the CAA takes place on Wednesday night in Williamsburg, Va. The Lady Monarchs travel to #13 William & Mary for a 7:00 p.m. meeting. The winner of the contest will take home the CAA regular season title and the rights to host the 2004 CAA Tournament.