Sept. 23, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The third-ranked Old Dominion field hockey team made it five-in-a-row as they shutout Princeton, 5-0, Saturday afternoon. After taking a 1-0 halftime lead, Old Dominion exploded for four second half goals as five different Lady Monarchs scored in the victory.
The Lady Monarchs improve to 8-1 overall, while netminder Kelly Driscoll (West Chester, Pa.) and the ODU defense post their third shutout of the season. Meanwhile, Princeton falls to 3-3 overall.
CAA Player of the Week Caroline Nichols (Va. Beach, Va.) got the game started as she scored eight minutes into the contest for what would be the game-winner.
ODU leading scorer Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.) got the second half started as she converted her fourth penalty stroke of the season. Five minutes later reserve Anna Rogers (New Bloomfield, Pa.), off an assist from classmate Darcy Pinchbeck (Suffolk, Va.), gave the Lady Monarchs a 2-0 on her second goal of the season. Less than three minutes after that, sophomore Nico van Nispen (Bilthoven, Holland) collected a loose ball in the circle to record her first goal of the season. Pinchbeck rounded out the afternoon's scoring tallying the Lady Monarchs' final goal of the afternoon with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. The goal was Pinchbeck's second of the year.
The Lady Monarchs outshot Princeton, 24-6, holding the Tigers to just four shots on goal and one shot in the second half. Old Dominion also held the advantage in penalty corners, 8-5.
Driscoll stopped all four Tigers shots on goal, while her counterpart Allison Nemeth made 11 saves in Princeton's loss.
The Old Dominion field hockey team returns to action tomorrow when they open up Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play at Drexel. It marks the second straight season the Lady Monarchs and Dragons have opened conference play against one another.