Sept. 3, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The No. 4 Old Dominion field hockey team took a 3-0 halftime lead and thwarted a second half comeback by No. 19 Virginia to hold on for a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The win keeps the Lady Monarchs undefeated at 3-0 as they defeat their second ranked team of the season. Meanwhile the Cavaliers suffer edtheir first loss of the season to fall to 2-1 overall.
Leading scorer Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) got the game started for Old Dominion as she coverted her second penalty stroke of the 2006 season in the ninth minute of play. Junior Sami McLenegan (Middletown, Pa.) off an assist from junior Jo Ann van Aswegen (Bloemfontein, South Africa) put Old Dominion up 2-0 in the 14th minute of action.
Sophomore Denise Admiraal (Heilo, Holland) scored what would be the game-winner to give the Lady Monarchs the 3-0 lead heading into the half. Senior Caroline Nichols (Va. Beach, Va.) struck the ball toward the Cavalier net on a penalty corner attempt. Virginia's Katherine Blair stopped the ODU shot attempt, but Admirall got a hold of the rebound and lifted into the cage for the Lady Monarchs' third goal in the 22nd minute.
The second half saw Virginia step up defensively as the Cavaliers held the Lady Monarchs without a shot for the final 28 minutes of the game. Virginia netted back-to-back tallies on penalty corner attempts with just over seven minutes remaining.
The Cavaliers' first goal came from a direct shot by Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn, set up by Biffy Cornelison and Abby Taylor with the assists just under the 63 minute mark. Less than 90 seconds later, Virginia capitalized on another penalty corner attempt this time with Traci Ragukas getting the ball into the ODU net in the 65th minute.
Old Dominion managed to hold on to a slight advantage in shot 12-11. The Lady Monarchs outshot the Cavaliers 10-4 in the first half. Virginia outcornered Old Dominion in the game, 5-2, with both Lady Monarch corners coming in the first half.
In net, redshirt freshman Kelly Driscoll (West Chester, Pa.) recorded five stops, while Blair registered three in the loss.
The Lady Monarchs return to action on Monday at 2:00 p.m. in College Park, Maryland as they face 2005 national champion, Maryland. The game between the Lady Monarchs and the Terps pits the two teams against each other for the first of a home-and-home series that features the participants in the NCAA semifinals.