FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's lacrosse team opened the 2016 season with a 14-13 victory over Longwood on Wednesday afternoon at the Longwood Athletics Complex.
"It was nice to start the season off with a win," said head coach Heather Holt. "I wish we had played more consistently into the second half and continued our momentum from the first. We did some good things today as a team, but we have a few things we need to improve on."
Ashmore Standing led the Lady Monarchs with four goals, while Morgan Marrale added two goals and two assists and Connor Carson contributed two goals and an assist.
Old Dominion (1-0) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of play. Standing scored two of ODU's first five goals, while Megan Topper added a goal and an assist during the early run.
Longwood (0-3) then scored three unanswered goals to cut the Lady Monarch lead to two, but Marrale and Cydney Tutchton netted back-to-back goals just minutes before halftime to give ODU a 7-3 advantage heading into halftime.
At the half, the Lady Monarchs held a 19-12 edge in shots and a 15-6 advantage in ground balls.
ODU extended its lead to 13-6 in the second half, outscoring Longwood, 6-3, through the first seven minutes of the second half. However, the Lancers mounted a late rally to close the gap to one goal, but the Lady Monarch defense held strong to secure the 14-13 victory.
Overall, ODU outshot the Lancers, 34-26, and forced 17 turnovers, while committing just 12. In net, Maggi Buckley earned the win for the Lady Monarchs, tallying five saves.
Defensively, Morgan Gallagher collected four ground balls and caused two turnovers and Natalie Ledwitz scooped up three ground balls and also caused two turnovers.
"We have some adjustments we need to make," said Holt. "We look forward to our home opener against Campbell on Saturday."
UP NEXT
The Lady Monarchs return to Norfolk for their home opener versus Campbell on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m. Admission is free for fall fans.
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