NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion (1-0, 0-0 ASUN) lacrosse team opened up their season to a 11-9 win over VCU (0-1, 0-0 A10) on Wednesday afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
Sophia Richie and Brooke Stein led the squad in points and both earned a pair of hat tricks en route to the Monarchs win.
"I'm very proud of our team. I think this is the first year where our energy was incredible the entire game, said Head Coach Heather Holt. "Overall, I think this is one of the best total teams we've had in a long time, which is exciting. They all carry each other and support each other really well."
The Monarchs were first to get on the board with a Lindsay Baer goal in the first minute. The Rams answered six minutes later and tied the game.
Coming back to take the lead, Sophia Richie notched her first goal of the game. VCU answered once again with a goal by Jessica Del Rossi.
Taking their first lead of the game, VCU notched a goal in the 22nd minute.
Old Dominion answered with an unassisted Sophia Richie goal that tied up the game 3-3.
The Rams went on to score two consecutive goals, both by Sky Hyatt.
Just before the half, Old Dominion tallied two goals within one minute to tie up the score. Brooke Stein and Lauren Irvine both scored their first goals of the season to close out the first half and tie the game 5-5.
At the half, ODU trailed VCU in shots, 17-10.
To start the second half, Old Dominion scored three consecutive goals within eight minutes to extend their lead to 8-5.
The Rams answered with two straight goals to edge the Monarchs 8-7 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Stein notched her second goal of the game assisted by Sophie Powers to extend the lead by two goals.
VCU scored twice more before the final whistle blew. Stein tallied one more goal for the Monarchs, while Cydney Tutchton tallied her first goal of the game and season.
Defensively, junior Kerri Caruso collected six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Lauren Ey played all 60 minutes in the net and notched 11 saves total.
Glory Johnson, Richie, and Tutchton all took four shots on goal. Overall, VCU outshot ODU 28-25.
"We're going into Virginia Tech as a whole new year. Anyday we'd rather play a big team. It will be a tough game, but we're up for the challenge."
Up Next
The Monarchs travel to Virginia Tech on Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. to take on the Hokies.