NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion's field hockey team has come oh-so-close to winning Big East Conferences titles in recent years, losing in the finals or semifinals of the Big East Tournament four of the last five seasons.
Each year, the Monarchs were left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Andrew Griffiths said it's time for ODU to take the next step and finally win the Big East and the accompanying bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We feel like it's time for us to win the Big East, that we're ready for it," said Griffiths, whose Monarchs open their home season Friday morning at 11 against James Madison.
ODU (1-1) played like a champion last Sunday in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, beating No. 14 Boston College, 4-2, in a game televised over the ACC Network.
The Monarchs dropped a disappointing, 3-2, overtime loss at William & Mary just two days earlier.
"We've been frustrated the last few years, especially last year, when we wasted two opportunities," he said.
The Monarchs lost to Liberty late in the regular season in a game tied until the final minutes. A win would have given ODU the regular-season title. The Monarchs outshot UConn, 11-5, in the Big East championship game but lost 2-1 on a goal in the final two minutes.
ODU hosts the Big East Tournament this season.
"If we'd won either game, we probably would have gotten an NCAA bid," he said.
"This year we feel like we have the ability to win the Big East. We just need to play well and put ourselves into a position to do that."
ODU's returns its top scorer in Marlon de Bruijne, a 5-foot-5 forward from Den Bosch, Netherlands who had 12 goals and four assists last season, and second-leading scorer in Delphine Le Jeune, a 5-7 midfielder from Ghent, Belgium who had seven goals and six assists.
ODU got two good graduate transfers with local roots.
Brooke Gasser, a defender from Columbia and Virginia Beach's First Colonial High School, started the last three seasons for the Ivy League School.
Courtney Lynch, a 5-4 midfielder who was a team captain and played four seasons at JMU, will play against her former teammates Friday. Lynch played at Chesapeake's Hickory High School.
"Courtney can play just about any position, and she can run all day," Griffiths said. "She finished second on our fitness test."
Emily Tammaro, a freshman from First Colonial, "has come in an been kind of fearless in her approach. She's adapted really well."
Midfielder Rina Tsioles, a junior from Kingston, Pennsylvania; Sidney Snyder, a junior from Timonium, Maryland; Nicole Fredericks (six points last season), a senior from West Chester, Pennsylvania; Jolene Ulichney, a junior form Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and Frederique Zandbergen (11 points last season), a sophomore from Tiburg, Netherlands, are among key returnees.
Cam MacGillivray, a graduate student from Calgary, Canada, returns at goalkeeper. She had a 1.61 goals-against average last season.
Sacha de Gier (Laren, Netherlands), Emma Child (Auckland, New Zealand), Mackenzie Olsommer (Moscow, Pennsylvania), Josi John (Western Branch High in Chesapeake) and Halle Fago (Nansemond River High in Suffolk) are newcomers of note.
Other returnees: Shannon Quaile (Haverton, Pennsylvania), Aubrey Mytych (Wyoming, Pennsylvania), Lauren Holbrook (Yorktown, Virginia), Evelyn Murray (Virginia Beach), Lauren Arledge (Chesapeake) and Fiona Minter (Yorktown).
Friday's game is the first between JMU and ODU since both schools joined the Sun Belt. Ironically, the league does not sponsor field hockey. JMU, which is 2-0 after a 3-1 victory over Richmond and a 6-2 win over Bucknell, is an independent this season.
"JMU is one of our great rivals," Griffiths said. "We've always had good games against them. It's usually a one-goal or overtime game.
"They have an aggressive team and they're fast. It's a tough home opener for us."
It's been less than a month since ODU began practice and Griffiths said his team is rounding into shape.
"We've come a long way since then," he said. "We're evolving into a good group.
"Against Boston College, we had a lot of attacking opportunities where we should have done better. And Boston College is a top team.
"We can compete with the best teams, but this is a long season and there will be frustrations. We've got to remember those frustrations, the ups and downs, are all part of the process.
"We're aiming to be good enough to win the Big East. There are so many things you can't control, such as a bounce here or a bounce there. But if we're good enough, we at least give ourselves a chance to."
And end years of frustration.
Minium: ODU Field Hockey is Determined to win the Big East Championship
