Oct. 24, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. - Senior Loran Hatch tallied two goals and the No. 20 Old Dominion field hockey team topped James Madison, 4-1, Sunday afternoon to wrap up at least the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
The Lady Monarchs (9-9, 6-1 CAA) have one remaining CAA game on the schedule, but have solidified at least the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament which will run November 6-7 at the highest seeds home field. ODU can only improve if Drexel (5-0 CAA) drops two of its final three conference matchups.
Hatchs' two goal game moves her team-leading goal total to 16 on the year, which ranks second in the CAA. Sophomore Maartje van Rijswijk scored for the fourth consecutive game and the forward now has 12 goals on the year, which ties her for fourth in the league in goals scored.
Hatch got the Lady Monarchs on the board first in the sixth minute blasting a penalty corner shot past JMU goalkeeper, Stephanie Tarafas. Van Rijswijk took advantage of a Dukes turnover in the circle less than four minutes later and registered a score to put ODU up by two, a score that would hold until halftime.
Just over three minutes into the second half, JMU's Lise van Dam deflected a shot from teammate Amy Daniel and the ball beat ODU keeper Devon Seifert high to cut the Lady Monarch lead to a single goal.
It took ODU just 23 seconds to respond as junior Kathryn Kirk weaved through a pair of Duke defenders and scored from the right endline. Hatch tallied her second goal of the day in the 44th minute off a penalty corner to seal the Lady Monarch victory.
Old Dominion outshot James Madison (8-10, 3-4 CAA) 15-7. Seifert was only called on to make one save as she picked up her eighth win on the season.
Senior's Paige Clutter and Alyschia Conn each picked up two assists in the win. Clutter's 17 assists and Conn's 13 are first and second in the CAA, respectively.
The Lady Monarchs step out of conference for the final time on Saturday, Oct. 30 against No. 1 North Carolina. The game, which is set for a 1 p.m. start time at the Powhatan Sports Complex, will be ODU's annual scholarship game. The contest will wrap up a five-game homestand for the Lady Monarchs and be the final home game of the 2010 season.
Tickets for the scholarship game are $5 with the proceeds benefiting the ODU Intercollegiate Foundation for Field Hockey. ODU students can still get in free with a valid ID. Senior day ceremonies will take place after the game.
-ODU-