By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – When Angie Hind was hired as the Old Dominion women's soccer coach in 2014, the Monarchs were at a low ebb. They were coming off four losing seasons, including a 1-13-3 record in 2013.
Hind said she inherited a team of good young ladies who nonetheless were lacking in soccer skills and athleticism.
"We were in a bad spot for sure," she said.
The former Scottish national team player and coach, along with long-time assistant coach and fellow Scotswoman Michelle Barr, rebuilt Dartmouth College into a consistent winner. Hind realized she and Barr, who came with her to Norfolk, had a more difficult task at ODU that would take years.
"You can do one of two things," Hind said. "You can have a quick fix, where you quickly get the program up and running, and risk falling right back, or try to build the culture the right way, over time.
"We've played the long game."
And so far, the long game is paying off. Hind's fourth team in 2017 was the first of three in a row to have winning records. Then came a blip during last spring's COVID season, when ODU was 4-5-2.
Tonight, the Monarchs enter their final home game with a 9-3-1 record, including a 5-0-1 mark in Conference USA, against Florida International. The 7 p.m. game at the ODU Soccer Complex is senior night, with ODU's Jasmine Crawley, Emily Roberts, Emily Garrick, Emma Gervase, Erica Carpenter, Allie Brimmer and Morgan Hall playing their final home game.
The Monarchs not only have the best record in Conference USA, they have yet to surrender a goal in six league games.
Angie Hind
Although it's already been a special season, there is much that remains to be done, say Hind and her players.
If the Monarchs defeat FIU (1-11-2, 0-4-2 C-USA) they will clinch a first-round bye to the Conference USA tournament. That means instead of playing four games in a week, they would play three.
"The teams that play four games are going to have a difficult time winning the tournament," Hind said.
Then if they win Sunday at Florida Atlantic, the Monarchs will enter the tournament as the top seed.
ODU will need to win three games next week at FAU, where the weather is a lot hotter and more humid than in Norfolk, to win its first Conference USA championship. But this team has something ODU hasn't had in a while – a talented lineup from top to bottom.
"I've never coached a team with this much depth," Hind said. "When we sub a player in, we don't lose anything."
Goalkeeper Kasey Perry is having a phenomenal season. She's had 20 saves and has an 0.51 goals-against average.
Crawley has also played well in goal. The graduate of Virginia Beach's Landstown High has an 0.57 goals-against average in four games.
"Kasey's been good, very consistent, but it's not just the goalkeeper, it's our back line," Hind said. "We've had nine players rotate on the back line."
She said Roberts "is the most consistent defender I've ever coached at any level."
Midfielder Ece Turkoglu, who is also a member of the Turkish national team, "has been fantastic," Hind said. "But she's got no stats."
She actually has one assist, but that doesn't detract from Hind's point. In America, if you don't score, you're often not recognized. In soccer-crazy Europe, her exceptional skills are recognized.
Riley Kennett
"She's the one making the pass before the assist or making the tackle before the block," Hind said.
ODU is getting goals from many different players. Carla Morich, the junior from Hamburg, Germany, leads ODU with four goals and five assists. Megan Watts, the junior from Stafford, Virginia, has four goals and an assist.
ODU's other 11 goals have come from eight different players.
"Yeah, we'd love for some of our forwards to be scoring a little more," Hind said. "But I have to say if they're not scoring, they're providing.
"It's very much a team effort. And that's good when you don't have to rely on the same one or two players every game."
Hind is 36-19-3 in the last four seasons and when I suggested this could be her best season, she put her finger to her lips and said "shoosh!"
Brimmer, a midfielder from Severn, Maryland; and Riley Kennett, a senior defender, say this is the closest team they've played with.
"I think the pandemic helped us," Brimmer said. "We were just stuck in our bubble. We only saw each other for a year straight.
"During that time, we got to know each other a lot better. We're very close off the field and that carries over on the field."
And they've played with poise, winning four games by a goal, including a 1-0 victory at Western Kentucky, then considered C-USA's best team, on Oct. 8.
Hind said the rebuilding process was not easy.
"We really had to get right back to the bare basics, and say, 'Hey, this is who we're going to be and this is what we believe in,'" she said.
"Problem is, you don't want to recruit players that come in the next year you think you might outgrow in two years. So, you really had to recruit players you believed in, players who would help you grow the program.
"As we got better and better and began to become successful, we had to recruit even better athletes."
Kennett is one of four seniors returning next season – they are taking advantage of the NCAA ruling that gave every athlete an extra year of eligibility because of COVID.
She said ODU has been successful largely because of Hind and Barr.
Allie Brimmer
"I love Angie," she said. "She was a big part of me coming here and not just Angie, but Michelle and the whole staff.
"They're just really welcoming. They have good intentions. They care about all of us. The environment they created here is awesome."
But, added, Brimmer, "they're very demanding. The standard keeps rising and they keep demanding that we reach the new standard."
ODU is within reach of matching its best season ever. ODU was 15-5 and defeated JMU in the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association tournament. That was the most victories for ODU in a season and the only year the Monarchs have advanced to the NCAA tournament, where they lost at Wake Forest.
"We know better than to look ahead of this game," Hind said.
And she's right. Ten of FIU's losses have come by a goal and the Panthers lost to Western Kentucky in overtime in their last game.
All of ODU's hopes, of finishing first in the regular season, and winning the conference tournament, take a big hit if the Monarchs find themselves thinking beyond Friday's game.
"If you know sports," Hind said, "you know it can be a fragile thing.
"But these girls have focused on each game all season. They'll be ready."
Minium was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in his 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot and won 27 state and national writing awards. He covers ODU athletics for odusports.com Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: ODU Women’s Soccer Program’s Rise from Mediocrity Has Been Slow But Sure
