By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's soccer team and UAB fought to a scoreless tie Sunday after, what for ODU, was a frustrating 110 minutes in which the Monarchs outshot and outplayed the Blazers.
In a physical contest that featured seven yellow cards, ODU (2-9-2, 0-5-2 Conference USA) had 28 shots to UAB's 13, including half a dozen that sailed just beyond the net.
"We had a lot of chances, relatively easy chances, and couldn't put them away," ODU head coach Alan Dawson said.
"That's been the story of the season for us. We've hung in every game. No one has blown us out. It's encouraging from that perspective, but obviously we'd like a win."
Dawson led the Monarchs to Conference USA championships in 2013 and 2017 and an 11-5-2 record in 2018, when ODU advanced to the semifinals of the C-USA tournament.
After going through a rebuilding season in 2019, when the Monarchs went 3-11-1, the team was decimated by the pandemic, Dawson said.
"All of our international kids went home and didn't come back," said Dawson, whose Monarchs were 1-4-3 in the spring season.
The exodus left ODU with one of the youngest teams in the country. Sunday would have been senior day if there were any seniors on the roster. Instead, there are 20 freshmen, six sophomores and two juniors.
"We literally had to clean house and start from scratch and this is where we are," he said. "Recruiting was very difficult for us because you couldn't physically recruit. Everything had to be done by video.
"We believe we've got some of the foundation pieces in place now. We just need a whole lot more of them."
Dawson is in his 25th year at ODU and has a career record of 379-190-51. He's twice taken the Monarchs to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
In order to restore ODU's program to where it once was, the Northern Ireland native said he and associate head coach Tennant McVea will recruit heavily in Europe. They will also make a recruiting trip to California.
"We've got to keep some of our foundation pieces so that moving forward, they'll know what it's all about," he said.
"The game has become extremely international. You look at the rosters, and Coastal Carolina has 19 international kids on their team and Kentucky has a lot of foreign kids.
"Either you get outmuscled or you go to Europe and try to pick up a few yourself."
ODU had numerous chances to win the game in regulation, with Paul Skoczylas missing just wide of the net in the final minutes.
Regulation ended with ODU's Liam Fisch colliding with UAB goalie Seth Torman, which resulted in one of several shoving matches between players.
UAB's Owen Travis almost won it with 1:55 left in the second overtime when he missed a wide-open net with a header. Then, with 38 seconds left, ODU's Ty Arico missed the net by a foot or two.
Djibril Doumbia, Josh Thacker, Nick Osygus, Philip Perry and Eliot Goldthorp played all 110 minutes for ODU. Goldthorp led the Monarchs with four shots on goal and Jose Olmos had three.
Neither UAB (2-12, 0-6-1) nor ODU will play in the Conference USA tournament. ODU closes out its season Friday at South Carolina.
"We're looking for a strong performance on the road," Dawson said. "It's a meaningful game for them but not for us.
"I'm hoping that we play with some pride and that we look forward to next season with the foundation we have in place."