Lacrosse Falls to Coastal Carolina, 12-8 in 2020 Season Opener

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion lacrosse team (0-1) suffered a 12-8 loss against Coastal Carolina (1-0) at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in its first game of the 2020 season. 
 
ODU played a quality second half, outscoring Coastal 5-4 and holding a 13-10 shot advantage while successfully clearing the ball six out of seven times in the final 30 minutes of action, but the Monarchs couldn't come back after Coastal's strong first-half performance. ODU suffered from penalty troubles throughout the match, as the Monarchs were given six yellow cards and allowed CCU to score four goals with the extra-player advantage.

"We were in the game the whole time and we fought hard, but we were definitely getting some of the cobwebs out early in the game," head coach Heather Holt said after the game. "We came out on fire the second half and the energy was amazing."

After scoring a team-high 53 goals last season, ODU senior Glory Johnson picked up right where she left off, scoring the game's first goal in under two minutes to give the Monarchs the early lead. The lead evaporated quickly however, as the Chanticleers rattled off four-straight goals, two of which came from sophomore Megan Bozzi, to put Coastal ahead, a lead it would never relinquish.  
 
Johnson tallied her second goal of the game to stop the Chanticleer run and to cut the ODU deficit to two goals. She would add a third goal to her ledger with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half, as she took a pass from classmate Michelle Hallman and beat CCU goalie Regan McComb for the hat trick. 
 
CCU scored three unanswered goals to end the half and took an 8-3 lead into the halftime locker room. At the break, the Chanticleers held a 14-6 shot advantage and had successfully cleared each of their seven attempts.
 
Out of the intermission, the Monarchs roared back to within two goals, as Danielle Dundas, Claire Porter and Hallman each registered their first goals of the season within the first six minutes of the half, bringing the score to 8-6. The Chanticleers' Abbey Buchanan stopped the Monarch run with her second goal of the contest to give CCU a three-goal lead.

The score stayed at 9-6 until 15:43 was left on the clock, when the Monarch's third-leading scorer from a year ago Lilly Siskind registered her first goal of the season, aided by an assist from Johnson. CCU scored again about two minutes later, but that goal was quickly answered by Hallman, who netted her second score of the game on a free position shot. 
 
Hallman's second goal would end up being the final Monarch goal of the game, as Coastal tallied two more points and finished on top, 12-8.
 
Johnson ended the game with three goals, all in the first half, two assists and a game-high 10 draw controls. Hallman tallied two goals and an assist in the effort. 
 
The Monarchs came into the season with two new goalkeepers on the roster, and both of them saw action in the season opener. Brianna Blatter earned the starting nod, collecting one save and allowing six goals in just over 21 minutes of action. Freshman Sabrina Leatherwood came in off the bench for the remainder of the game, picking up three saves, two ground balls and also allowing six Chanticleer goals in just under 39 minutes of play.
 
Bozzi and Robinson led CCU with three goals apiece, while McComb earned the win in goal, collecting five saves. 

"This is definitely a game to build off of and we learned a lot," Holt said. "I'm very excited for the rest of the season with this team."
 
The Monarchs will be back in action on Wednesday, February 12 when they take on VCU at 3 p.m. at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.