April 5, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion University Women's Lacrosse team returns home for three of their next four contests beginning Friday night when they host Delaware at 7 p.m. to open CAA action at home. The Lady Monarchs will also face Towson on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Powhatan Sports Complex.
Friday’s night game will feature a live broadcast with ODU Director of Broadcasting Ted Alexander on play-by-play while Lindsey Belle, an All-CAA selection on defense who played from 2006-2009 for the Lady Monarchs, will be the color analyst for the first home night game of the season for ODU.
Old Dominion (4-7, 1-0) opened CAA action on Sunday with a thrilling 14-10 comeback win at William & Mary. Seniors Sarah Wright, Lisa Bernardini and Rebecca Reymann each recorded a hat trick as ODU defeated the Tribe for the first time since 2007 and earned their first win in Williamsburg since 2004. The Lady Monarchs outscored W&M, 9-4, in the second half including three quick goals in the first 90 seconds coming out of the half.
Bernardini (26 goals, 9 assists), who was named CAA Player of the Week for the second time, is second in the CAA in goals and points and leads the offense while senior midfielders Rebecca Hartrum (20), Wright (18) along with Reymann (16) lead the charge in goals. Senior goalie Sarah Geary has caused nine turnovers, racked up 30 groundballs and picked up 74 saves while allowing 119 goals on the season. ODU ranked eighth in the NCAA (Division I) in groundballs per game at 18.55 per contest to begin the week.
Delaware (2-9, 0-1) has lost their last eight contests including their CAA opener at Towson last weekend, 10-8. The Blue Hens have a pair of scorers with over 20 goals in sophomore attacker Chelsea Fay (21) and freshman midfielder Caitlin McCartney (20). Freshman goalie Alex Zaugra has seen the majority of action in goal with a record of 2-6 and 76 saves with 106 goals against her.
Towson (7-3, 1-0), who plays at William & Mary on Friday night before coming to Norfolk on Sunday, has been ranked nationally this season. Two of their three losses are foes ranked in the top five while the Tigers also have a win over No. 12 Loyola this season. Six Tigers have double-digit goals this season, led by sophomore attacker Andi Raymond (15 goals, 8 assists) and senior attacker Sarah Appelt (11 goals, 10 assists). Towson leads the CAA in goals against average and in save percentage behind by senior goalie Mary Teeters who has 94 saves and just 80 goals against on the year.
In the all-time series, Delaware leads ODU, 12-9. The Lady Monarchs have not won in the series since a 10-8 victory back in 2006 in Norfolk as UD has captured the last five meetings, four of which have been decided by three goals or less. ODU and Towson have split their 10 meetings all-time with the Tigers winning each of the past two seasons and in three of the last four meetings. The last win for ODU in the series came back in 2009 with a 10-7 road victory.
Live video and live stats will be available for both games at ODUSports.com in addition to updates on Twitter at @ODULacrosse.