NORFOLK, VA—The ODU Soccer Monarchs (9-3-1/6-1), ranked 24th nationally by the NSCAA and College Soccer News host No. 25 New Mexico (9-4-2/5-1-1) Saturday night at the ODU Soccer Complex in a battle for first place in Conference USA. ODU currently has a two point lead on the Lobos who defeated No. 10 UAB 4-3 Wednesday night.
A free ODU Soccer scarf will be given to the first 200 fans. Fans will be admitted for $3 with a football ticket stub and $1 tickets for active or retired military.
This will be the final regular season home match for ODU seniors: Tim Hopkinson (Nottingham, England), Jason Gaylord (Kendall, NY), Ryan Oakes (Virginia Beach, VA.), Sean Stowe (Midlothian, VA.) and Gideon Asante (Sunyani, Ghani).
Saturday night will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Lobos, ranked 25th by Soccer Times are coached by Jeremy Fishbein who has compiled a 257-112-38 (.678) career mark in 20 overall years, and 162-52-28 in 11 years at New Mexico. Leading the Lobos are Niko Hansen with 18 total points on seven goals, and four assists. Goal keeper Michael Lisch is second in the league with a 0.90 goals against average.
The Monarchs, winners of five straight come into Saturday’s match-up averaging 5.77 points per game which ranks 15th nationally. ODU has scored 18 of its 27 total goals in the second half, and are 2-1-1 against nationally ranked teams.
ODU senior forward Tim Hopkinson ranks sixth nationally and leads C-USA in total points with 22 on nine goals, and four assists. He also leads the league in game winning goals with five, ranks 19th nationally in total goals, and second in the league with nine. Freddy Ruiz of UAB leads the league with 11.
Ivan Militar and Hopkinson are tied for 10th in C-USA in assists with four each. Senior goalkeeper Sean Stowe is third in the league in saves with 42, fourth in save percentage at .750 and eighth in goals against average at 1.13.
The Monarchs finish the regular season Nov. 9 at South Carolina. The C-USA tournament is Nov. 13-17 in Charlotte, NC.
C-USA NOTES: C-USA and the ACC are the only leagues boasting four teams in the NCAA RPI top 25. New Mexico is 18, ODU is 21, UAB is 23 and Charlotte is 25.
ODU’s Alan Dawson is the third winningest coach in C-USA with 329 victories in his 26th overall season and 17 at ODU. He trails only Mark Berson of South Carolina (461) and Bob Gray of Marshall (424).
Standings | Conference | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | Overall | Pts | Pct. | GF | GA | |
Old Dominion | 6-1-0 | 18 | .857 | 15 | 8 | 9-3-1 | 28 | .731 | 27 | 18 | |
New Mexico | 5-1-1 | 16 | .786 | 12 | 6 | 9-4-2 | 29 | .667 | 26 | 15 | |
UAB | 4-2-1 | 13 | .643 | 16 | 11 | 11-3-1 | 34 | .767 | 37 | 16 | |
South Carolina | 3-1-3 | 12 | .643 | 7 | 5 | 6-5-5 | 23 | .531 | 19 | 17 | |
Charlotte | 2-3-2 | 8 | .429 | 12 | 8 | 7-5-3 | 24 | .567 | 26 | 14 | |
Tulsa | 2-3-2 | 8 | .429 | 8 | 9 | 7-5-3 | 24 | .567 | 26 | 17 | |
Kentucky | 2-3-2 | 8 | .429 | 6 | 8 | 5-8-2 | 17 | .400 | 16 | 19 | |
FIU | 2-4-1 | 7 | .357 | 10 | 7 | 6-8-1 | 19 | .433 | 27 | 22 | |
Florida Atlantic | 1-5-1 | 4 | .214 | 6 | 19 | 6-5-2 | 20 | .538 | 19 | 25 | |
Marshall | 0-4-3 | 3 | .214 | 3 | 14 | 2-9-6 | 12 | .294 | 12 | 30 |