NORFOLK, VA- The ODU Soccer Monarchs return to action Friday night at home when they host the Bulls of South Florida from the American Athletic Conference. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Complex. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for faculty staff, military, youth and senior citizens. Follow all the action on Monarch Media with Director of Broadcasting Ted Alexander providing the play-by-play.
SERIES: ODU leads, 3-1-4. This is the first meeting between the two teams since 1990 when both schools were members of the Sun Belt Conference. Four matches went to overtime.
ABOUT USF: The Bulls are 2-1 and are receiving votes in the NSCAA coaches poll. After losing to Florida Gulf Coast, 2-0, the Bulls knocked of Akron, 2-1 in overtime and then defeated Portland, 2-0. Senior midfielder Lucas Baldin leads the Bulls in scoring with three goals, followed by Kennedy Adablah. Four different players have assisted on goals. Junior goalkeeper Spasoj Stefanovic has a 0.93 goals against average. USF was picked by the league coaches to finish second in the AAC.
ABOUT THE MONARCHS: ODU picked up its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Northeastern Sunday night in the Stihl Soccer Classic on a goal by junior Geoffrey Hill with the assist from Ryan Condotta.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alex Tiesenhausen is second the C-USA with 19 total saves and fifth in the league with a 0.66 goals against average.
MONARCH NOTES
+ Both of ODU’s losses this season have been to nationally ranked Virginia and North Carolina.
+ Head Coach Alan Dawson ranks 13th in the NCAA in career winning percentage (.689) among active coaches.
+ The Monarchs have the second most NCAA appearances of teams in C-USA which is 12, trailing only South Carolina with 20. New Mexico is third with 11.
+ Four C-USA teams have reached (Charlotte, FIU, New Mexico & South Carolina) The College Cup Finals.
+ ODU defenders Michael Nelson and David Maciscza were named to the Stihl Classic All-Tournament squad.