WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Old Dominion men's soccer team fought back after being behind 1-0 in the first half, but were unable to surpass American University resulting in a 2-1 loss in the season opener Sunday evening at American.
"We were a little naive in the first half and made a mistake to give up a very soft goal. I thought we responded after halftime and played our way back into the game, but we let down on a ball we should have cleared and conceded what was a good finish," said ODU head coach Alan Dawson.
American took the lead for good with a goal in the 74th minute. David Coly got his second assist of the game after finding Dilane Zouantcha at the top of the 18-yard box. Zouantcha found space in the middle of the box and would seal the Monarchs fate with a right footed shot.
ODU was able to tie the game within six minutes of the second half. Karan Mandair, with a header, found the right corner of the net after Philip Perry produced a cross from a through ball given by Liam Fisch.
AU put a goal on the board first with a goal by Zemi Rodriguez who got past ODU defenders with a pass from Coly.
"We must learn from our mistakes and build upon what was an overall decent performance", concluded Dawson.
Old Dominion (0-1, 0-0 C-USA) will return to the field on Friday, Sept. 3, when Loyola (Md.) comes to the ODU Soccer Complex for a 7 p.m. start on CUSA.TV.