Sept. 1, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion field hockey team welcomes two of the top-three ranked teams in the country to the Powhatan Sports Complex this weekend for a pair of non-conference matchups.
The 12th-ranked Lady Monarchs (2-0) will take on No. 1 Maryland, the reigning NCAA Champions, on Friday at 5 p.m. and then face No. 3 Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Old Dominion started the season off with a bang, winning consecutive games against Top 10 foes on a neutral field. The Lady Monarchs topped No. 8 Penn State (5-2) last Friday and then upended No. 10 American (4-1) on Sunday.
Senior forward Emma Batten was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week Tuesday after posting three goals and an assist in her first two games.
Maryland opened the 2011 season ranked No. 1 in the polls and is coming off its seventh national title, ninth ACC title, and a 23-1 overall record a year ago.
The Terrapins opened their season with two wins in Philadelphia last weekend. They beat No. 19 Boston University 3-1 Friday behind senior Jemma Buckley's hat trick and they beat Temple 6-0 Monday, thanks to two goals each from freshman Katie Gerzabek and sophomore Jill Witmer.
Between ODU and Maryland, the two teams own a combined 16 NCAA championships (ODU 9, Maryland 7). They are the leaders in NCAA Division I field hockey titles.
The match between the Terrapins and the Lady Monarchs is the first of two between them this season.
Third-ranked Virginia sits at 1-1 after its opening weekend of play. The Cavaliers handled CAA opponent VCU 8-1 on Friday before falling 3-0 to No. 8 Penn State on Sunday.
Elly Buckley leads UVA with five points on two goals and an assist. Six different Cavaliers have scored in their opening two games.
ODU is 32-12 all-time against Virginia in a series that dates back to 1976.
Admission to both games is free of charge, but if you can't make it to the game you can watch the live webstream via Monarch Media or get updates throughout the games by following @ODUFieldHockey on twitter.
-ODU-