LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Old Dominion field hockey team (4-2, 4-1 BIG EAST) saw its nine-game BIG EAST winning streak come to an end on Saturday with a 4-1 loss at Liberty (6-0, 5-0).
"It was a tough game today and disappointing scoreline for sure," head coach Andrew Griffiths said. "We showed our youth and inexperience with inconsistency. We had some stretches where we moved the ball really well, but those stretches weren't long enough."
The Flames needed just 54 seconds to score the first goal of the match. Daniella Rhodes finished off a pass from Jill Bolton for her ninth goal of the season.
Marlon de Bruijne tied the match with a goal at the 20:05 mark – her 10th of the season. Riley Taylor provided the assist on the goal and now has seven.
Liberty broke the game open in the third quarter with three goals. Rhodes and Bolton connected once more in the 35th minute to put the Flames ahead. The duo flipped roles less than eight minutes later with Rhodes setting up Bolton's fifth goal of the season. Bolton struck again less than two minutes later to produce the final score.
The underlying stats were closer than the final margin. Both sides finished the day with nine shots. LU had a 6-5 edge in shots on goal. The Monarchs took three penalty corners to Liberty's two.
"I give credit to Liberty," Griffiths said. "They did some things really well, played good hockey and took their chances clinically. Turnovers were key to the game today. We got away from doing simple things well and made a few costly mental mistakes that were turnovers that turned directly into goals. We will turn it around quickly and look forward to a stronger and sharper performance tomorrow."
Cam MacGillivray made a pair of saves in 60 minutes of action. Azul Iritxity Irigoyen stopped four shots.
The two sides conclude their weekend series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Field Hockey’s BIG EAST Streak Snapped by 4-1 Loss at Liberty
