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NORFOLK, Va. - The Lady Monarchs scored three of the final four goals in the first half and outscored Louisville by three goals in the second half to capture a thrilling 14-12 win in their season-opener on Sunday afternoon at the Powhatan Sports Complex.
Seven different players scored for ODU (1-0) including three goals a piece from seniors Lisa Bernardini and Rebecca Hartrum. Meanwhile, redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Geary saved seven shots on the day including a flurry of attempts late in the second half by Louisville (1-2).
The game started with a furious flurry of goals as Bernardini and Hartrum each scored while Louisville's Nikki Boltja and Jamie Redding countered with their own goals for four scores in the first two minutes of the contest. After things settled down, Louisville scored five of the next seven goals to take a 7-4 lead with 7:45 to play in the first half.
Mary Bermingham was able to net a goal with a man advantage on Louisville then to inch ODU closer before Rebecca Reymann netted one of her two goals on the day to pull the Lady Monarchs within one goal. After a Louisville goal, Hartrum was able to find the back of the net with just one second left on the clock to pull ODU within one goal at the half, 8-7.
In the second half, ODU scored four of the first six goals of the half to take a 12-9 advantage and prompt a Louisville timeout. The Cardinals were then able to score a pair of goals in three minutes to pull within one goal but a free position goal by Hartrum and a wide open goal for Meredith Rogers across the middle with under three minutes to play would bump ODU's advantage back up to three goals.
A furious rally by Louisville over the final two and half minutes produced one goal on five shots as Geary and the Lady Monarch defense was able to hold tough and hang on for the win.
Bernardini's four assists on the day ties her with Caroline Jacobs for second on the all-time career assists list at ODU with 55. Meanwhile, Hartrum tied her career high with three goals scored.
The Cardinals were led by Boltja's five goals while Hillary Bushway and Redding each had two goals for Louisville.
It was the first ever win for the Lady Monarchs against the Cardinals in three attempts as ODU improves to 1-0 for the first time since the 2009 season. Old Dominion outshot Louisville in the contest, 30-27, while also earning the advantage on groundballs, 17-12.
ODU returns to action on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m. when they travel to Washington, D.C. to face American.