PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Despite recording three penalty corners with no time left on the clock, the 12th-ranked Old Dominion Lady Monarchs were unable to overcome a two-goal deficit, as the team fell to the Villanova Wildcats by a 2-1 margin on Friday afternoon.
ODU dropped to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST, while Villanova moved to 4-10 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.
After a scoreless 48 minutes of play, it was the Villanova Wildcats that broke the 0-0 tie when Francesca Bello found herself with a 1-on-1 situation with freshman keeper Kealsie Robles. After Robles dove to try and stop Bello’s attack, she collected the ball and scored on the wide-open cage. Bello found the back of the cage again 9:27 later to add the insurance goal for Villanova to hold a 2-0 lead with 11:11 on the clock.
ODU scored off a penalty corner by Chrissy Horn to pull the Lady Monarchs within one goal with exactly 10 minutes left to play and continued to put pressure of the Villanova back line. ODU earned three penalty corners and took two shots in the final 10 minutes, but the first attempt was blocked and Erika Miller saved the second.
With no time remaining on the clock, the Lady Monarchs earned another corner, but were unable to convert. The official then called another Villanova foul in the circle and gave ODU its fifth corner in three minutes, but Miller saved Sarah Breen’s initial shot. The Lady Monarchs were once again given another corner, marking their third opportuniry to score the equalizer with with no time left. Breen took the final shot for ODU and Miller was once again there to make the save and secure the win.
The Lady Monarchs controlled the first half, recording eight shots to Villanova’s one and were also awarded seven penalty corners, but could not light up the scoreboard in the opening period. Freshman keeper Kealsie Robles made the kick save on the Wildcats’ only attempt in the first period.
For the game, ODU held a 17-6 advantage in shots and totaled 15 penalty corners compared to Villanova’s one.Robles suffered the loss and made on save in 70 minutes of action, while Miller made six saves in her fifth win of the season.
Old Dominion will be back in action on Sunday as it takes on No. 15 Delaware at 1:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available and can be found on the ODU field hockey schedule on www.odusports.com.