WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – No. 19 Old Dominion picked up its second-straight win, taking down William and Mary 3-1 on Friday night at Busch Field in Williamsburg.
"I am really pleased with the team effort," said head coach Andrew Griffiths. "We got a lot of players involved in the game and were able to control the flow. I was especially pleased when William and Mary had momentum in the second half we stayed very resilient. That is really positive for us and is something for us to build on moving forward."
Senior forward Katy Furhman (Columbia, Pa.) tipped in the ball off a Megan Byas (Driffield, England) shot and gave Old Dominion the early 1-0 lead at the 6:46 mark. The ODU defense held the Tribe scoreless and to just two shots in the first half.
The Tribe opened the second half strong, scoring the equalizer just 1:11 into the final period. Pippin Saunders secured the rebound off a Megan Hept (Chesapeake, Va.) save and found Maria Pastor for her first goal of the season.
ODU answered with two goals in a span of one minute and 16 seconds to take a 3-1 lead by the 46:21 mark. Junior Sarah Breen (Melbourne, Australia) scored first for the Lady Monarchs off a corner set up by Villagra and senior midfielder Kelsey Smither (Suffolk, Va.). Villagra and Smither connected again, this time for a Villagra goal for ODU’s third goal of the match.
William and Mary had several opportunities to score the rest of the half, but Hept made four big saves, while one of the Tribe’s shots went wide of the cage.
Hept, the Lady Monarchs junior keeper, played the entirety in goal, finishing the game with six saves. Meredith Savage suffered the loss for the Tribe and finished with three saves in 70 minutes of action.
ODU led the Tribe 11-10 in shots, while W&M held a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The Lady Monarchs also held a 3-2 advantage in penalty corners.
Villagra led the Lady Monarchs' offense with four points on one goal and two assists. Breen and Byas each notched a goal for ODU, while Smither tallied two assists.
The Lady Monarchs will be back in action on Sunday when they host the Delaware Blue Hens for a 1:00 p.m. contest at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
Be sure to keep up with all the latest news regarding ODU Field Hockey on Facebook; as well as follow @ODUFieldHockey on Twitter!