MACON, Ga. – TheOld Dominion women’s lacrosse picked up a win in its first-of-two games in Georgia with a 24-10 win over the Mercer Bears on Thursday afternoon at Five Star Stadium. The Monarchs’ 24 goals set a season high and tied the program record that was set in 1980 its first ever game. The Monarchs defeated St. Mary's 24-0.
The Monarchs improved to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic-Sun Conference, while the Bears fall to 3-7 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Jessica Liberty started the scoring for ODU just 1:39 into the contest with her 30th goal of the season. After being fouled inside the arc, Christina Rea gave the Monarchs the early 2-0 lead off a free-position goal four minutes later.
The Bears got on the scoreboard at the 22:30 mark off a goal by Erica Coyne. ODU responded with a quick 2-0 run with goals from Morgan Marrale and Liberty in a span of 1:15 to hold a 4-1 lead with 20:26 left to play in the first half.
Mercer took advantage of a couple of ODU fouls and scored two goals by the 15:21 mark to pull within one goal (4-3). Morgan Marrale then started a 4-0 run to give the Monarchs an 8-3 lead with 11:14 mark. Natalie Ledwitz, Rea and Liberty also scored during that run.
With ODU leading 11-5 with 6:20 left to play in the first half, the Bears put together a 3-0 run to pull within three goals (11-8) by the 4:37 mark. The Monarchs never gave up and closed out the first period with a 4-0 spurt to take a 15-8 lead at the intermission. Ashmore Standing took advantage of her speed, scoring two goals during that span.
Maggie Clough opened the second half with her first goal of the season after she caused a Mercer turnover on their clear-attempt and drove all the way to the goal. ODU continued to attack the next 18 minutes, scoring an unanswered five goals to take a 21-8 lead. Mercer scored its first goal of the second period when Coyne scored at the 11:03 mark. Prior to the Bears’ goal, ODU’s defense held Mercer to just three shots.
Ledwitz scored her second goal of the contest to give ODU a 22-9 lead, but with 6:57 left to play, the game was temporarily delayed due to lightning. The Monarchs were not affected by the 30 minute setback, as they finished the game with two goals from Liberty and Carson to reach the final 24-10 score.
Old Dominion controlled the shot chart with a 42-14 margin; including a 37-12 lead in shots-on-goal. ODU was also efficient on free-position shots, as the Monarchs went 6-for-8. ODU also held a 19-14 edge in draw controls and forced 10 Mercer turnovers. ODU is currently ranked seventh in the nation in caused turnovers with 10.33 per game.
Maggi Buckley picked up her second-consecutive win, as she played the first 28:40 in goal for the Monarchs and made one save. Karen Hayde came for Buckley to play the final 35:38 for the Monarchs and stopped two shots. Haleigh Wurzel suffered the loss for the Bears, as she allowed 16 Monarchs’ goals in her 32:23 minutes of action. She finished the contest with 11 saves. Michele Holmes played the rest of the game for the Bears and made four saves, but allowed six ODU goals.
Liberty paced the Monarchs’ offense with six goals, which marks a season high and her sixth game with three or more goals. Overall, she has notched 35 on the year, which leads the team and ranks second in the league. Standing added four goals of her own and dished out two assists, while McCaleb and Rea chipped in three goals apiece. Carson posted a complete stat line with three goals, four ground balls, two caused turnovers and a game-high seven draw controls. Before today’s contest, Carson ranked 17th in the country in caused turnovers.
Leone led the Bears with three goals on three shots, while Coyne added two goals and two ground balls. Meghan Segreti pulled in a team-high five draw controls, while Zeltwanger added four to go along with her one goal and four assists.
Old Dominion will be back in action on Saturday, as they travel to Kennesaw, Ga. to take on Kennesaw State at noon.
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