STORRS, Conn. – The No. 5 Old Dominion women’s field hockey team (13-7) lost 1-0 in overtime at the hands of No. 7 Connecticut. This is ODU’s first loss since Sept. 20 and snaps the 12-game winning streak that ODU had maintained up until overtime today.
"It was a tough defensive game, and obviously disappointing to lose in overtime,” said ODU head coach Andrew Griffiths. “Connecticut played well, as we expected, and we were great in deep defense – but we didn’t attack with as much conviction and speed as we normally do. We lacked a bit of discipline with our press and didn’t create significant opportunities from turnovers. We are looking forward to the selection show and seeing what the next challenge is.”
Following the game Old Dominion senior back Christy Longacre, midfielder/back Kelsey Smither and midfielder/forward Nicole Goff were named to the All-Big East Tournament team.
ODU began the first period on the attack and received the first corner chance of the day, but could not score. Corners and chances were rare to achieve as both teams finished the half with three shots and two corners apiece.
In the second period both teams played with the same defensive intensity as they did in the first half. At the end of two periods, UConn led ODU in shots by a 7-6 count. The Lady Monarchs finished both periods with four penalty corners and UConn finished with five.
In the overtime session, ODU could not capitalize on a quick chance, which gave the Huskies a chance the other way. UConn forward Marie Elena Bolles found Huskie Chloe Hunnable at 71:03 who was able to slip one past ODU keeper Megan Hept.
ODU was outshot by an 8-6 final tally, and had four corners to the Huskies five. Hept finished with 4 saves and fell to a record of 13-7.
ODU 0-0-0=0
UConn 0-0-1=1
71:03 UCONN Chloe Hunnable (20) from Marie Elena Bolles
Shots: ODU (6), UConn (8)
Corners: ODU (4), UConn (5)
Saves: ODU (4), UConn (3)
No. 5 ODU will find out where they are sent when the entire field is announced at 10 p.m EST on NCAA.com later Sunday night.
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