Sept. 3, 2008
Gametracker - Maryland
Audio - Maryland
Gametracker - Virginia
ABOUT OLD DOMINION: The Lady Monarchs are hitting the road again traveling to College Park to take on Maryland on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and then on to Charlottesville to face Virginia on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Old Dominion is looking to earn its first victory of the 2008 season after falling 2-0 to No. 6 Penn State and 5-0 to No. 18 Syracuse last weekend.
ABOUT MARYLAND: The Terps, ranked second in the Preseason STX/NFHCA Poll, enters Friday's game at 2-0 having recorded a 5-0 victory over Lock Haven and a 1-0 win over No. 6 Penn State. The Lady Monarchs will be Maryland's first opponent at home this season. Senior back Susie Rowe and junior midfielder Ameliet Rischen currently lead the squad with each having accumulated two goals and an assist. Rowe has tallied both of the Terp's game-winners thus far. In the goal, junior Alicia Grater has posted five saves.
SERIES WITH MARYLAND: Maryland leads the all-time series 25-17-1. Old Dominion will be looking to snap a Terp six-game win streak against the Lady Monarchs. Old Dominion's last victory was during the 2005 season where they handed the second-ranked Terps a 4-1 loss in College Park.
LAST TIME VS. MARYLAND: The 2007 Old Dominion field hockey season came to end with a 5-0 loss to host Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.Maryland had only a one goal lead at the half, with Old Dominion nearly even in shots and corners. The Terps held just a slight edge in each category, outshooting ODU 8-7 and having a 3-2 advantage in penalty corners through the first 35 minutes of action. Maryland struck three minutes into the game as Sarah Scholl managed to draw out Lady Monarch netminder Kelly Driscoll out of the cage. Driscoll charged at Scholl to make a stop, but Scholl passed to Nicole Muracco near the right post for the early 1-0 Terp lead. Driscoll would go on to record four saves in the first half as she and the ODU defense held the Terps without a goal for the rest of the period. The second half, however, had the Terps score four answered goals in the half's first 12 minutes. Three of Maryland's four second half goals occured within a six minute time frame. Two minutes into the second stanza Ellen Ott capitalized on a deflection on a Terp penalty corner. Nearly two minutes after Ott's goal, Susie Rowe gave Maryland a 3-0 advantage by converting a penalty stroke. Another two minutes following the stroke, Katie O'Donnell intercepted the ball for a breakway into the circle and the final goal of the afternoon. Late in the second half, Old Dominion had several scoring opportunities, including including two penalty corners. Katelyn Smither on the first corner attempt had her shot saved while Loran Hatch and Katie Ueberroth tried for the rebound. Both had their shots saved by Terp keeper Kathryn Masson. Smither had two more shots on the Maryland goal a minute later on another ODU corner attempt, but had her first shot saved and her second shot blocked. Hanna Warren and Alyschia Conn also had shot attempts in the latter parts of the second half. Smither ended the game leading the Lady Monarchs in shots with five, including two on goal. Ueberroth had three shot attempts with all three on the Terp goal. Driscoll made a total of five saves in the loss. Masson started the game for Maryland making eight saves in 53 minutes of action. Reserve Alicia Grater made two stops playing the game's final 16 minutes.In all, Maryland outshot the Lady Monarchs 18-14 and held a 7-4 advantage in penalty corners.
ABOUT VIRGINIA: The Cavaliers, ranked No. 11 in the Preseason STX/NFHCA Poll, enter the weekend at 2-0 and will face Vermont on Friday before meeting the Lady Monarchs on Sunday. Virginia opened the season with a pair of home games shutting out William & Mary, 5-0, and downing Providence, 4-1. Rookie midfielder Paige Selenksi and junior back Lauren Elstein led Virginia with a pair of goals, while junior midfielder Traci Ragukas has registered four points off a goal and two assists. Senior Amy Desjadon and sophomore Devon Burnley have each seen time in goal. Desjadon has posted one save, while Devon Burnley has recorded two and has allowed the Cavalier's only goal thus far.
SERIES WITH VIRGINIA: Old Dominion leads the series 32-9. The Lady Monarchs have won the last 14 meetings with the Cavaliers. Virginia's last win over Old Dominion was back in 1996.
LAST TIME VS. VIRGINIA: The Old Dominion field hockey team got into the win column for the first time in the 2007 season as the sixth-ranked Lady Monarchs defeated eighth-ranked Virginia, 3-1, back on September 2nd at Foreman Field.Former Lady Monarch Titia Beek led the way with two goals and an assist as the Lady Monarchs snapped a two-game losing streak. The Cavaliers struck first as leading scorer Traci Ragukas found her way into the back of the ODU cage on a penalty corner 15 minutes into the game. Virginia would go on to outcorner Old Dominion, 17-2, but it would be the lone time the Cavaliers would convert.With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Old Dominion tied the game at one apiece. Katelyn Smither struck the ball into the Cavalier cage in the Lady Monarchs' lone penalty corner attempt of the half. Former Lady Monarch Jo Ann van Aswegen and Beek were credited with the assists. Less than two minutes later, the Lady Monarchs made their way back into the circle where Beek would put Old Dominion ahead 2-1 heading into halftime. Beek added in her second tally of the afternoon eight minutes into the second half. Kelly Driscoll held off the Virginia barrage of shots with 11 saves in net. Amy Desjadon made two stops for the Cavaliers.
NEARING THE HALF CENTURY MARK: Head coach Beth Anders enters this weekend's competition with 492-93-7 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.
RANK `EM UP: Eight Lady Monarch 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, in the midst of a four-game road swing, will open up the brand new Powhatan Sports Complex on Saturday, September 13th against Richmond.