Sept. 30, 2012
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NORFOLK, Va. - The No. 8 Old Dominion University field hockey team had little trouble in their CAA home opener on Sunday afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex as they eased past Delaware, 5-1.
The win by ODU puts them at 3-0 in league play and 8-3 overall as they won their fifth consecutive game. Delaware falls to 0-2 in the CAA and 4-9 overall.
Things got started quickly for ODU as they scored in transition in the seventh minute of action when freshman Celine Marquet made a terrific pass across the middle to redshirt junior Danielle Clutter who put it in the back of the cage for her first goal of the year and gave the Lady Monarchs a 1-0 early lead.
Old Dominion got a pair of goals midway through the first half as freshman Sarah Breen launched a shot from just inside the circle that was tapped in by senior Kimberly Oakes past Delaware goalkeeper Sarah Scher. Less than four minutes later, sophomore Rosario Villagra cut across the middle from 15 yards out and roped a shot past Scher for ODU's third goal of the first half.
Down 3-0 at the half, Delaware come out firing in the second half and was able to just convert a minute and half out of break as the Blue Hens' Kelsey McKee tapped in Heather Hartman's shot off a penalty corner to cut into the deficit.
ODU was able to get on the board again in the 48th minute of action off a penalty corner when redshirt junior Christy Longacre scooped Breen's shot in past the goalie. A fifth Lady Monarch goal came with 15 minutes to play as a number of shots were taken in a crowd right in front of the cage before Villagra finally tapped in a rebound for her second goal of the day.
The Lady Monarchs outshot the Blue Hens, 21-6, and had a 4-2 advantage in penalty corners. Scher had nine saves for UD while redshirt senior goalkeeper Marla Petriello had two saves for ODU.
Old Dominion continues their six-game homestand when they host Towson on Friday at 5 p.m. at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
Follow Old Dominion Field Hockey on Twitter at twitter.com/ODUFieldHockey and find them on Facebook at facebook.com/ODUFH.