NORFOLK, Va. -- The No. 11 Old Dominion field hockey team had its season-opening, seven-game winning streak snapped by No. 2 UConn, falling to the Huskies, 4-2, on Friday evening at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
UConn (8-0, 2-0 Big East), the reigning national champs, broke a 1-1 tie early in the second half, scoring three goals in six minutes to pull away from Old Dominion (7-1, 1-1 Big East). Erin Huffman and Ashleigh Thomas scored goals for ODU.
"When we attacked the game, even from a defensive standpoint, we rattled them a little bit," said head coach Andrew Griffiths. "I don't think they [UConn] handled that pressure very well. We just didn't do consistently, unfortunately, for 70 minutes. Against a good team like that, that's what you have to do."
THe Huskies' Svea Boker scored a goal three minutes into the match to give UConn the early 1-0 lead, a lead that they would carry into the halftime.
Just over three minutes into the second half, Thomas answered for ODU, flicking an acrobatic shot over the diving UConn goalkeeper for her first goal of 2018 to briefly tie the game.
However, UConn answered, scoring three goals in a six-minute span to build the lead to 4-1. The score remained that way until Huffman's penalty-corner goal in the waning seconds.
"We had a 10-minute period where we just weren't really tight with our defensive organization," said Griffiths. "And they have some really talented players and they took advantage of it."
Alexandria Brewer and Merle Knobloch picked up assists for ODU. Kealsie Robles played the full 70 minutes in the cage, making five saves.
The Monarchs have a quick turnaround with VCU at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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