NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 6 Old Dominion University field hockey team will play No. 13 Wake Forest (11-8) in the NCAA first round on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. from Chapel Hill, N.C.
"We are really looking forward to the challenge of this weekend," ODU head coach Andrew Griffiths said. "Our team has been consistently rising through the season, and we seem to have played our best against great competition. This is the most enjoyable time of year for us, so much work and planning has gone in to getting to this point, and we have an excellent opponent in Wake Forest. The players are all excited to get down there and play."
Old Dominion University makes their 31st appearance (most in the NCAA) in the NCAA Tournament. ODU (13-7) enters this year’s NCAA Tournament having won 12 of their last 13 games. ODU claimed a share of the schools first Big East regular season title and the team played in their first Big East Championship after playing in the Colonial Athletic Association the last 22 years.
The NCAA field of 16 includes ten opponents that the Lady Monarchs faced during the season including: Wake Forest (scrimmage), Penn State, American, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Michigan State, Quinnipiac and Connecticut. ODU had played 13 of their 21 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Field Hockey Tournament First Round Preview:
No. 6 Lady Monarchs (13-7, Big East) vs. No. 13 Wake Forest (11-8, ACC) Saturday 2:00 p.m.
Where: Chapel Hill, N.C. Francis E. Henry Stadium
Series Record: ODU Leads 3-0- One of the three meetings was in the NCAA Tournament in 2000.
Wake Forest Players to Watch: Wake Forest is led by senior forward/midfielder (#2) Taylor Rhea who has 16 goals and 36 points on the season and junior back/midfielder (#22) Anna Kuzniuk who has nine goals and 23 points. Rhea has tallied five goals in the last three games. Kozniuk was a first-team ACC selection. Sophomore goalkeeper Valerie Dahmen has a 1.89 goals against average and a .711 save percentage.
Demon Decons Report: Wake Forest finished the regular season winning five of their last 10 games. Wake Forest lost to No. 3 North Carolina (16-5) by a close 3-2 final in the ACC Quarterfinals. Rhea and Kuzniuk each had one goal in the UNC game, while Rhea accounted for all three goals against Boston College. The Demon Deacons record against ranked opponents is 2-7 (1-5 vs. ranked opponents on road/neutral site).
Last Two Meetings: Sept. 8, 2001 - No. 3 ODU held off No. 5 Wake Forest for a 3-2 win from Foreman Field. The Lady Monarchs received goals from Melissa Leonetti, Adrienne Yoder and Julie Miracle.
Nov. 17, 2000 - ODU Sports Hall of Famer '10 Marina DiGiacomo (Mendoza, Argentina) scored an NCAA record tying four goals to lead the Lady Monarchs (24-1) to a 6-0 NCAA semifinal victory over Wake Forest. Old Dominion advanced to the NCAA Championship game where they would go on to win 3-1 over North Carolina and claim the school's last NCAA Title.
GAME COVERAGE
Live stats can be found here-
http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wfieldh.html?event=1315990&school=fo&sport=wfieldh&camefrom=&startschool=&
Live video of Saturday’s game-
http://www.goheels.com//mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=0&id=1049796&db_oem_id=3350
Live in-game updates can be seen by going to- https://twitter.com/ODUFieldhockey
ODU has won an NCAA record nine titles including: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2000 under former ODU head coach Beth Anders.
Should ODU advance Sunday's NCAA Second Round will be held at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets to the games are $5 and will be available at the Stadium gate.
Old Dominion University will host the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Championship on Nov. 22 and 24th at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex. Single session tickets are $20 and groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets in advance for only $10 per day by calling 757-683-4444. To order, go to www.ncaa.com/tickets, or the ODU box office at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Vote for ODU field hockey by clicking this link- http://www.ncaa.com/game/fieldhockey/d1/2013/11/16/wake-forest-old-dominion
Like ODU Field Hockey on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/ODUFH
Follow us on Twitter- https://twitter.com/ODUFieldHockey