NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion women’s soccer team (7-10-0, 5-3-0) will close out its regular season this weekend with two final C-USA games with major postseason implications. The Lady Monarchs travel to Huntington, W. Va. to take on Marshall on Friday at 7 p.m. before returning home to host Middle Tennessee on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Complex.
Entering Friday night’s match, Old Dominion sits in fifth place with 15 points, while Marshall is in third place and has already clinched a spot in the Conference USA tournament with 17 points. The 2015 C-USA tournament will consist of the top eight out of 14 teams from the regular season. Middle Tennessee enters the weekend in sixth place with 14 points.
North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Marshall are the only three teams to have already clinched a conference tournament spot entering this weekend. There are a total of five teams under Old Dominion in the C-USA standings which are within just two points of the Lady Soccer Monarchs.
ODU will take the field Friday night after splitting road games in Texas last weekend, as the Lady Monarchs defeated UTSA 3-2 (2OT) on the strength of a Grace Haverly game-winning header before falling to UTEP 3-0.
Iris Achterhof leads Old Dominion in scoring with six goals on the year and four assists while Madison Hogan has netted five goals and two assists. Deirdre Bradley now has three goals in the past four games, while Kira Laurento and Haverly have two apiece.
Goalkeeper Erin Kinz has started every game for the Lady Monarchs and has made 58 saves and compiled three clean sheets.
Marshall (12-3-3, 5-2-2) enters Friday night’s game after pitching two straight shutouts, earning a 2-0 victory over WKU and a 1-0 win over FIU last weekend. The Thundering Herd are led by Sydney Arnold who has racked up seven goals on the year. Erin Simmons has found the back of the net six times, and Lizzie Kish has started 18 games in goal and has made 55 saves.
Middle Tennessee (8-5-3, 4-2-2) is coming off back-to-back 0-0 draws against LA Tech and Rice. The Blue Raiders are led in scoring by Tori Hawkins who has recorded three goals and four assists on the season. Grace Summers and Morgan Mauck each have two goals apiece. Kelse Brouwer has started every game at goalkeeper and has made 87 saves.
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