NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 17 Old Dominion field hockey team dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 4 Liberty on Saturday in the Monarchs' final home game of the season.
The Flames (10-2, 8-2 BIG EAST) started fast, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after the first quarter. Liberty outshot ODU (5-4, 5-3) 6-0 in the opening quarter and received unassisted markers from Charlotte Vaanhold in the sixth minute and from Daniella Rhodes in the 11th minute.
"We knew they were going to come out fired up, and we were on our heels a bit and played into that by turning the ball over early," head coach Andrew Griffiths said. "There are things that we want to improve, and consistency from minute one to minute 60 is the biggest thing. Overall, we can take some positives from the game."
The Monarchs surged in the second quarter, getting a goal back to make it a 2-1 match at the break. Marlon de Bruijne finished off a penalty corner routine in the 19th minute with her 11th goal of the season. Riley Taylor and Marlee McClendon provided the assists.
"In the second quarter, we started playing better and simpler and in more control of the tempo," Griffiths said.
Taylor entered the weekend ranked second in the NCAA in assists per game and now has eight on the season. With a goal in Friday's 2-1 win over LU, the junior from Virginia Beach, Virginia has now matched her single-season career highs with five goals, eight assists and 18 points. McClendon's assist was her sixth of the season.
The second half played out along a similar script to the first half with Liberty scoring twice in the third quarter and the Monarchs scoring once in the fourth.
LU's goals in the third quarter came just 40 seconds apart. Rhodes notched her second goal of the game off a penalty corner at the 37:15 mark. Jill Bolton then tucked home her own rebound at 37:55 to put the Flames ahead 4-1.
ODU pushed hard in the fourth quarter – outshooting Liberty 3-0 and earning four penalty corners. De Bruijne found the back of the cage for the second time in the 59th minute when she finished off a sweeping pass into the circle from Delphine Le Jeune. The freshman from Den Bosch, Netherlands now has 12 goals in her first nine games. Le Jeune tallied her second assist of the season after setting up the game-winning score on Friday.
"The team is trying to figure out who they are," Griffiths said. "It's difficult to come off a big win and have another consistent performance. With that young group, they showed they had toughness yesterday and resiliency today in the fourth quarter."
Cam MacGillivray made seven saves in 60 minutes. Azul Irixity Irigoyen stopped two shots.
Prior to the game, the program honored senior practice player Christian DeAngelis.
Prior to today's match we honored practice player Christian DeAngelis for his commitment to the program over the past four years.
— ODU Field Hockey (@ODUFieldHockey) March 27, 2021
Thank you for everything, Christian. We know good things are in store. pic.twitter.com/nnfudQKWDE
Their home schedule now complete, the Monarchs head into a bye week before a pair of neutral-site conference tilts with Quinnipiac on April 9 and 10 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Head coach Andrew Griffiths breaks down No. 17 ODU's loss to No. 4 Liberty.#ODUSports | #ReignOn | #Monarchs pic.twitter.com/1DxHujhtiR
— ODU Field Hockey (@ODUFieldHockey) March 27, 2021