Sept. 15, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion field hockey team fell to No. 15 in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association Poll, released Tuesday. ODU remained in the Top 10 in the womensfieldhockey.com poll though, entering the week in the 10th spot. The Lady Monarchs will have a chance to bounce back as they head to Tobacco Road this weekend to take on No. 2 North Carolina and No. 10 Duke.
Old Dominion (2-4) dropped six spots in the poll, garnering 362 total points. The Lady Monarchs are coming off a hard fought road trip in which they lost a pair of games against Top 10 foes. On September 11, ODU fell to No. 8 Syracuse, 2-1 in overtime, and on the following day, No. 7 Michigan State bested the Lady Monarchs 4-1.
Sophomore midfielder Kathryn Kirk scored her third goal of the season with 9:26 to go in the second half to force overtime with the Orange. Senior goalkeeper Kelly Driscoll had a career-high 11 saves in Saturday's game with Michigan State. Old Dominion has faced a Top 10 team in four-straight games and has two more road tests against a pair of ACC powers this weekend.
The Lady Monarchs head to Tobacco Road on Friday afternoon to face the second-ranked North Carolina Tarheels. Two days later, ODU will battle 10th-ranked Duke. The two games are part of a home-and-home series ODU has with each school. Both opponents will travel to the Powhatan Sports Complex in October.
Old Dominion was once again one of three Colonial Athletic Association teams appearing in the Top 20. Drexel was ranked No. 12, while James Madison placed 13th. Northeastern, VCU and Delaware also received votes in the poll. A new poll will be released on September 22.
-ODU-