WASHINGTON -- Freshmen Erin Huffman and Ashleigh Thomas scored the first respective goals of their collegiate careers to propel the Old Dominion field hockey team to a 2-1 victory over American Sunday afternoon before 286 fans at Jacobs Field. ODU improved to 1-1, 0-0 (BIG EAST) while American dropped to 1-1, 0-0 (Patriot League).
"It was a nice team effort today," head coach Andrew Griffiths said. "With so many new players starting for us, the team's focus was on helping each other and playing consistently through the game. We still had some ups and downs, but we showed mental toughness."
After 35 minutes of competitive play in the first half, neither American nor Old Dominion was able to find the back of the net.
In the opening five minutes of the second half, ODU freshman Erin Huffman scored the first point of the game off a penalty corner to put the Lady Monarchs up 1-0. Chrissy Horn was awarded the assist.
Moments later with 22 minutes on the clock, American’s Natalie Konerth made the most of a penalty stroke opportunity and tied the game 1-1.
After a blocked shot by Meg Byas with just over 14 minutes to play, freshman Ashleigh Thomas blasted a ball past American goalkeeper Alexandra Morris to score what would be the game-winning goal.
Despite several penalty corner attempts by American in the waning 10 minutes, ODU goalkeeper Kealsie Robles and the Lady Monarch defenders held the Eagles off to seal the 2-1 victory.
For the game, American held a 10-7 advantage in shots and a 7-5 advantage in penalty corners.
Robles once again played the full 70 minutes in the net for ODU and registered four crucial saves.
The win was Old Dominion's first over American since the 2013 season.
NEXT UP
ODU hosts former CAA rival Delaware on Friday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. in its home opener.
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