"I'm so proud of this team," said Old Dominion head coach Beth Anders. "It took an entire year of preparation to get to this point. The players worked hard all season and it paid off for them today."
Senior Loran Hatch added to her weekend's hardware collection, being named the CAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player just two days after being selected First Team All-CAA and the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
Joining Hatch on the All-CAA Tournament team were senior Sami Richardson, Kirk and sophomore Christy Longacre.
The 16th-ranked and second-seeded Lady Monarchs now must wait two days to find out where they'll play next. The Division I field hockey tournament selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Kirk's goal came midway through the second overtime period to break a scoreless drought of over 92 minutes. The junior caused a turnover and then broke free of the Drexel defense and created a one-on-one chance against Drexel goalkeeper Jenna Phillips.
Kirk dribbled around Phillips and was able to send the ball into the left side of the cage as the Lady Monarchs stormed the field to celebrate.
"So much was going through my mind as I broke away," said Kirk. "I just knew it was a great scoring chance and I'm so happy it went in!"
The contest featured stellar defensive play throughout regulation as two of the highest scoring offenses in the league created multiple scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize. Junior goalkeeper Devon Seifert made six saves, while Drexel's Jenna Phillips stopped eight shots.
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