Oct. 20, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - The No. 1-ranked Old Dominion field hockey team looks to remain undefeated in Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend as the Lady Monarchs host James Madison on Friday at 5 p.m. and Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Despite falling at home to No. 5 Duke in overtime last Sunday for its first loss of the year, Old Dominion (15-1, 5-0 CAA) remains No. 1 in the polls and the Lady Monarchs still garnered 42 of 48 first-place votes.
Current CAA Player of the Week Emma Batten leads the team and ranks fourth in the CAA with 17 goals. Freshman Kelsey Smither paces the squad and is fifth in the conference with nine assists on the year. Goalkeeper Devon Seifert ranks sixth nationally with a 0.92 goals against average.
The Lady Monarchs lead the conference in scoring margin, shutouts, goals against average and goals allowed.
James Madison enters Friday with a 6-8 overall record and a 2-3 mark in the CAA. The Dukes have played four ranked teams thus far in 2011, going 0-4 and losing those games by a combined 17-1. Taylor West leads the team with six goals and 13 points.
Virginia Commonwealth sits at 4-11 overall and 1-4 in league play entering the weekend. The Rams have dropped four of their last five games and are 0-3 against ranked teams this season. Kelsey Scherrer is VCU's top scorer with six goals and two assists on the year.
Fans not in attendance can watch the live stream of both contests via Monarch Media and get updates throughout the weekend by following @ODUFieldHockey on twitter.
Additionally, Sunday's contest will be Old Dominion University's Olympic Sports Game of the Week with Ted Alexander and former Lady Monarch Loran Hatch providing commentary and analysis.
-ODU-