Aug. 29, 2008
FOR OPENERS: Old Dominion begins its 35th season of field hockey this weekend by traveling to Ursinus for a pair of neutral site contests at Ursinus College's Eleanor Frost Snell Alumnae Field. The 10th ranked Lady Monarchs take on No. 6 Penn State on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and No. 18 Syracuse on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Saturday will mark the sixth consecutive season Old Dominion has paired up against Penn State in its season opener. The Lady Monarchs are 28-6 all-time in season openers and have won five of their last six.
WHAT'S BACK: The 2008 version of the Lady Monarchs welcomes back 13 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's squad that finished 12-10 overall against one of the nation's toughest schedule, 8-0 during the regular season of CAA competition, at No. 12 in the final STX/NFHCA Poll, and making its 27th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Returnees on the roster include Preseason CAA Player of the Year Katelyn Smither, Preseason All-CAA member and 2007 CAA Rookie of the Year Loren Hatch, and two-time First Team All-CAA goalkeeper Kelly Driscoll (West Chester, Pa.).
COACHING CONNECTION: Penn State head coach Char Morett was an assistant at Old Dominion under Beth Anders from 1980-1984. Morrett, now in her 22nd season with the Lady Lions, helped coach the Lady Monarchs to their first three national championships.
ALUMNUS RETURNS HOME: Head Coach Beth Anders will be returning to her old stomping grounds this weekend. Her Lady Monarch squad will be playing a pair of neutral site games at Ursinus College, her alma mater. Anders, a four-time All-College field hockey and lacrosse player, graduated with degree in health and physical education in 1973.
NEARING THE HALF CENTURY MARK: Head coach Beth Anders enters this weekend's competition with 492-92-7 overall record, needing just eight victories to become the first Division I coach and second field hockey coach overall to reach the 500 win milestone.
ALL-TIME VS. PENN STATE: Old Dominion holds a 13-9 advantage in the series with Penn State, which dates back to 1982. The Lady Monarchs have won three out of the last four meetings and will be looking to avenge last season's 3-1 loss to the Lady Lions.
LAST TIME VS. PENN STATE: Penn State snapped Old Dominion's streak of five straight season opening victories by handing the Lady Monarchs a 3-1 loss at Foreman Field back on August 25, 2007. Penn State struck early and built up a 2-0 lead in the first half. Just over six minutes into the contest, the Lady Lions' Mallory Weisen connected on one of the three Penn State corner attempts. Then right before the 15 minute mark, Shaun Banta connected on what would prove to the game-winner. Early in the second half, Penn State had three point blank shots on net but two saves by netminder Kelly Driscoll and a defensive save by former Lady Monarch Shannon Mobley kept the Lady Monarchs in the game. After being outshot, 7-2, in the first half, Old Dominion was much more aggressive in the early portions of the second half. Anna Kern finally got the Lady Monarchs onto the scoreboard with her first career goal with 24:38 left in the game.With 16:21 remaining, Britney Long added in an insurance goal for Penn State taking a feed from Banta. The Lady Monarchs tried to cut their deficit to one in the closing minutes but the Lady Lion defense blocked a penalty corner shot by Katelyn Smither to hold on to the two-goal lead. Penn State outshot Old Dominion, 11-7, while the Lady Monarchs held a 6-4 edge in penalty corner attempts. Driscoll made four saves for the Lady Monarchs, while her counterpart, Beaumont, stopped three ODU shots.
ALL-TIME VS. SYRACUSE: Old Dominion has only faced Syracuse one other time. The Lady Monarchs earned a 3-1 victory back in 2004.
LAST TIME VS. SYRACUSE: Old Dominion picked up a 3-1 victory over Syracuse in its only other meeting with the Orangewomen back on September 12, 2004 in a neutral site contest in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game was decided in the first half where Old Dominion scored all three of its goals. Katie Claxton put away the game-winner 15 minutes into the game with a diving redirect at the goal. The Lady Monarchs' second goal of the afternoon came on a tap from Anna Rogers after 2008 Olympic team member Dana Sensenig sent her pass in from the middle of the circle at the 13:55 mark. Shannon Mobley rebounded out the scoring for Old Dominion with her first career-goal with just over three minutes remaining in the first stanza.Old Dominion outshot the Orangewomen 22-11 and held the advantage in penalty corners, 10-4. Cate Gordan recorded six saves in the win, while Syracuse's Betsy Wagner recorded seven stops.
RANK `EM UP: Eight future Lady Monarchs opponents are featured in the STX/NFHCA Preseason Top 20 Poll, including four members of the Top 10. Defending NCAA Champion North Carolina tops the poll, followed by Maryland at No. 2. Penn State, comes in a No. 6, while two-time defending CAA champion James Madison ranks No. 7 in the poll. Rounding out the Top 20, Virginia comes in at No. 11, followed by fellow ACC member and two-time ODU opponent in 2008 Duke at No. 12, Boston University at No. 14, and Syracuse at No. 18. Five additional Lady Monarch opponents are receiving votes including California as well as CAA rivals Delaware, Northeastern, Hofstra, and William & Mary.
PRESEASON HONORS: Senior defender/forward Katelyn Smither was named the 2008 CAA Preseason Player of the Year, while teammate and 2007 CAA Rookie of the Year Loran Hatch received a nod to the Preseason All-CAA squad. Smither tied for seventh in the league in defensive saves, while offensively, she was a vital member of the penalty corner unit as the striker recording five goals and three assists. Hatch was Old Dominion's seventh field hockey Lady Monarch to earn CAA Rookie of the Year honors after totaling eight goals in her first season in the blue and silver. The Lady Monarchs' second leading scorer a season ago, she tied for sixth in the CAA in goals per game (0.44) and tied for fourth in the league in game-winning goals.
CONGRATS TO TEAM USA: Four members of the US Olympic Field Hockey team were among the 11 Old Dominion alumni participating in the 2008 Beijing Games. 2002 Tiffany Snow ('03), Angie Loy ('05), Dana Sensenig ('07), and Caroline Nichols ('07) guided Team USA to its first Olympic appearance since 1996 and an eighth place finish. The US went 1-1-3 in pool play, tying Argentina, ranked No. 2 in the world, 2-2, Japan 1-1, and Great Britain 0-0. The squad was narrowly edged in the 7th/8th place game with 3-2 extra time loss to Spain.
MARK YOUR CALENDERS: Old Dominion opens up the 2008 season with four straight road games before opening up the brand new Powhatan Sports Complex on Saturday, September 13th against Richmond.