Sept. 25, 2005
NORFOLK, Va. -- Freshman forward Katelyn Smither (Suffolk, Va.) paced the Lady Monarchs offense with three goals as the seventh-ranked Old Dominion field hockey team downed Drexel, 7-0, in their Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener at Foreman Field on Sunday.
Defensively Old Dominion picked up its third shutout of the 2005 season, while offensively, Smither was one of five Lady Monarchs to find the back of the Dragon cage. Senior Janelle Engle (Mt. Joy, Pa.) was Old Dominion's other multiple scorer of the day with both her goals coming from penalty corners.
The Lady Monarchs outshot the Dragons, 26-2. Both Drexel shots came in the second half resulting in saves from ODU netminder Mary Cate Gordon (Oreland, Pa.). The Dragons were held without a penalty corner the entire game while Old Dominion racked up 15.
Junior Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) tallied the Lady Monarchs' first goal of the game, which would prove to the game-winner at the 14:08 mark. Over the next six minutes, the Lady Monarchs added onto the lead to take a 3-0 advantage into the half. Engle scored on one of her two penalty corner goals and Smither collected the first of her three tallies from a feed to the right side of the cage from senior Jennifer Angat (Va. Beach, Va.).
Smither would go on to registered the next two goals in the second half, registering goal number two at the 38:18 mark and scoring again a mere 19 seconds later. Sophomore Daphne Admiraal (Heiloo, Holland), off a rebound from Drexel keeper, and Engle, on another penalty corner, would round of the scoring for the game.Drexel goalkeeper Colleen McAndrew was kept busy much of the afternoon, but managed to record 14 saves. Additionally, Rachael Bloemker made a defensive save for the Dragons. ODU's Gordon posted two saves off of shots from Drexel's Rachel Babcock and Elizabeth Seidel.
The victory gave the Lady Monarchs their first weekend sweep of the season after posting a 5-2 victory over #16 Richmond on Saturday. Overall, Old Dominion improved to 6-4 overall, 1-0 in the CAA and are riding a three-game win streak. Drexel meanwhile snaps a four-game win streak and falls to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in conference.
The Lady Monarchs return to action next weekend in two CAA match-ups. Old Dominion hosts #19 James Madison on Friday, September 30th at 6:00 p.m. and travels to Towson on Sunday, October 2nd for a 1:00 p.m. contest.