Strong Second Half Leads Lacrosse over Radford, 12-6

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion lacrosse team (3-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) had goals from six different players to earn a 12-6 victory over Radford (1-3, 0-0 Big South) at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon.

"We started out slow, but we turned it around after halftime and had a really exciting second half," head coach Heather Holt said after the win. "We focused on not turning the ball over and being more aggressive in the second half and it paid off." 
 
The ODU offense turned on the jets in the second half, coming out of the halftime locker room and scoring seven unanswered goals after scoring just three goals in the first 30 minutes of action. With the score tied at three apiece, freshman Katie McGrain got the second-half scoring started the same way she scored the first goal of the game, taking a pass from Brooke Stein and beating Radford goalkeeper Maddie Bowman.  
 
Fellow freshman Caroline Shaefer followed McGrain's second goal with a free-position goal of her own to increase the Monarch lead to two goals. Less than a minute later, Danielle Dundas tickled the twine for her first of two goals on the contest. 
 
Between the 21 and 15-minute marks, ODU would score four more goals, three of which coming from senior Glory Johnson, including one while the Highlanders had an extra-player advantage. Johnson assisted on the fourth goal during the six-minute stretch, finding Lilly Siskind open in front of the goal who put the ball in the back of the net. 
 
With the score at 10-3, Radford ended the Monarchs' 7-0 run when Katie Carroll beat freshman goalkeeper Sabrina Leatherwood with 6:29 remaining in regulation. Carroll would score two more goals to cut the Highlander deficit to four goals with just over a minute remaining.
 
ODU would add two more goals in the final 30 seconds of action, as senior Mary Katherine Maloney registered her third goal of the year on a free position shot, which was quickly followed by a Dundas-from-Johnson connection with 14 seconds remaining, bringing the final score to 12-6. 
 
Johnson registered a game-high five points, all in the second half, scoring three goals and adding two helpers to lead the Monarch surge. McGrain, Shaefer, Siskind and Dundas each had two goals on their ledger, while Maloney collected a goal, three groundballs and two caused turnovers. 
 
Stein collected two assists and freshman Maddie Mullenbach earned a helper as well in the effort. In goal, Leatherwood earned her third win of the year, earning a season-high 14 saves. 
 
ODU took 25 shots in the second half and held a 34-28 shot advantage in total. The Monarchs gathered 27 groundballs to Radford's 14 and also won 13 of 20 draw controls. 
 
The Monarchs will be back in action next Saturday, February 29 when they head to Farmville, Virginia to take on Longwood. The initial draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.