Lacrosse Defeated by William & Mary, 11-4 on the Road on Wednesday Night

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. –  The Old Dominion lacrosse team (2-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) lost to Hampton Roads foe William & Mary (1-2, 0-0 CAA), 11-4 on the road on Wednesday night. 
 
ODU scored the opening salvo when Claire Porter registered her sixth goal of the season off of a pass from Stephanie Allen to give ODU the first lead of the game. 
 
It would be the only lead the Monarchs would hold on the night, as the Tribe's Belle Martire would score W&M's first goal two minutes and 28 seconds later. Martire would earn an assist on the next Tribe goal, which was scored by Meredith Hughes with 19:26 showing on the game clock in the first half.
 
Allen tied it for ODU after she was given a free-position attempt, and she made the most of it, depositing her first goal of the season into the net to tie the game. 
 
After W&M and ODU exchanged goals to make the game 3-3, the Tribe rattled off three unanswered goals to end the half, including Hughes' second of the game, to take a 6-3 lead into the halftime locker rooms.
 
After the first 30 minutes of action, ODU held the draw-control advantage, gathering six of the 10 opportunities, but the Monarchs turned the ball over 12 times and William & Mary had an 18-13 shot advantage.
 
The Tribe scored five of the six second-half goals to pull away and defeat the Monarchs by a score of 11-4. The lone Monarch tally came from the stick of Amber Stieve, who scored her first goal of the young season off of a pass from Michelle Hallman.  
 
"I felt that our defense played well tonight," head coach Heather Holt said after the game. "We need to do a better job of not turning the ball over and having more accurate shots. We had the opportunities, but just couldn't connect." 
 
In total, W&M took 35 shots to ODU's 24 and also held a 32-21 groundball advantage. The Monarchs turned the ball over 21 times. Four different Monarchs scored for ODU, as Porter, Allen, Siskind and Stieve each beat the William & Mary goalkeeper. Allen added an assist to tie for the team lead with two points. Hallman also registered two points in the contest, collecting two assists on the night. 
 
Stieve picked up a team-high four groundballs while Glory Johnson picked up four draw controls. In goal, Sabrina Leatherwood earned double-digit saves for the third consecutive game, stopping 11 shots in the effort. 
 
Martire led the Tribe with five points (three goals and two assists), while Elsa Rall earned the win in goal, turning aside 13 Monarch shots.
 
ODU returns to the L.R. Hill Sports Complex for their next game when they take on Radford on Saturday, February 22. The initial draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.