WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 19th ranked Old Dominion Field Hockey team defeated the 21st ranked American Eagles on Sunday by a score of 2-1 at the Jacobs Recreational Complex. Frederique Zandbergen scored the game winner for ODU with just over four minutes left in the match. The Monarchs now extend their win streak to six games against the Eagles.
"Today was a strong win against a tough team," said ODU Head Coach Andrew Griffiths. "It's actually a great step for us. It would have been nice to take more of our chances early as we had a lot of shots, but in the end it was a quality test of our mentality. And we were up to it."
Marlon De Bruijne got ODU (3-1) on the board first as Courtney Lynch and Zandbergen assisted her on a penalty corner late in the first period. The Monarchs had eight total shots in the first period but only had the one lone goal scored. Neither team could get much going in the second period as they went into the half with Old Dominion still leading 1-0.
"We had some adversity to handle. American plays very aggressively and physically, and at periods we were rushed into a more frantic style of play, and some mistakes," said Griffiths. "We also were given a few tough penalty cards, and at one point, we were two players down for about four minutes. But we handled this with maturity and actually took back control of the tempo."
Late in the fourth period, American (2-2) tied the game on a penalty corner as Charllene Boshoff was assisted by Lotta Curanz. The shot deflected off an Old Dominion player and was just out of reach of the goalkeeper. With just over four minutes left in the match, Zandbergen scored on a penalty corner to break the tie and give the Monarchs a 2-1 advantage.
"We conceded an unlucky deflection on a corner, so they tied it with seven minutes to go, and with the crowd, they had some momentum," Griffiths said. "But we were actually very confident and steady from there, responded with a nice goal, and then closed out the game solidly for a good win."
Old Dominion outshot American 17-6 and had 11 penalty corners to the Eagles four.
ODU is back in action Wednesday, Sept. 7 as they visit Longwood at 6 p.m.
Zandbergen's Late Tally Leads Field Hockey Over American 2-1
