By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – For the third year in a row, an Old Dominion field hockey team with a superb resume was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Hours after the Monarchs fell to Liberty Sunday in the BIG EAST Conference championship game, the Monarchs gathered in a room at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex and watched the NCAA Tournament selection show. And for the third year in a row, they saw all eight at-large bids go to the ACC and Big Ten.
That continued a long-time trend. Of 64 at-large teams picked in the last eight years, 62 have been Power 5 schools, including 61 from the ACC or Big Ten.
This snub hit the Monarchs particularly hard because they had their best record in a decade. ODU was 15-3 and won its last 10 games before falling to Liberty, 3-1, in the league championship game.
Although it isn't known which team was the first team left out of the tournament - Harvard was 13-4 and had a higher RPI than the Monarchs - ODU was confirmed to be the first team out the last two seasons.
A year ago, ODU swept two games from the University of Virginia, and then watched as the Cavaliers garnered an at-large bid while ODU was left out.
While many of his players shed tears and tried to console each other, coach Andrew Griffiths was honest with them. "There's not a lot I can say that's going to make you feel any better," he said.
"We did everything we could. I feel like we've been shortchanged and I'm sure you do, too. We've been shortchanged the last three years."
Field hockey players watch the NCAA Tournament show
Griffiths said ODU's strength of schedule likely will be the reason NCAA officials will cite as for why Monarchs didn't make the field. But, as he noted, ODU played the strongest schedule it could.
ODU traveled to Boston College, and won, and had a home game scheduled against Duke that was canceled because of Hurricane Ian. Virginia was supposed to play at ODU this fall, but the Cavaliers canceled the game too late for ODU to schedule another Power 5 team.
"I think the pattern is the thing that is most disappointing," Griffiths said. "Each year we've been on the bubble there's been a different rationale as for why we've been left out. But it seems there is an inherent bias for the Power 5 schools, the schools with the resources and the influence.
"It seems the only way in is to win your conference.
"To have all the at-large bids to go to two conferences the last three years doesn't seem right. It's not good for the game.
"I'm so disappointed for our players. They played so hard all year, they put so much work into it."
"I'm extremely proud of this team. I would put this team up against anybody and give us a good shot to win."
ODU could have clinched the BIG EAST's automatic NCAA bid by beating Liberty.
ODU outshot Liberty,12-8, and had eight penalty corners to Liberty's three. But the Monarchs failed to cash in on any of the penalty corners.
"We just didn't finish," Griffiths said. "Generally, when you have eight corners, you'd like to get at least two goals."
Liberty's Daniella Rhodes scored a minute and 34 seconds into the game and the Flames held onto the 1-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Tara Griffiths comforts her husband, ODU coach Andrew Griffiths
The Monarchs turned up their defensive pressure in the second half, most of which was played in the ODU offensive zone.
ODU finally scored with just under 10 minutes left when Sanci Molkenboer, a freshman from Holland, took a pass in front of the goal, wheeled to her left and fired a shot that Liberty goalie Irigoyen Iritxity had no chance of touching. Frederique Zandbergen, who is also from Holland, had the assist.
ODU had several chances to take the lead, including two shots from Marlon de Bruijne with a little more than seven minutes to go that were just wide.
But Liberty then got the ball out on a break and had numbers and took advantage. ODU goalie Cam MacGillivray made a stick save that bounced back to Liberty's Bethany Dykema, who put the ball in the cage with 6:41 to go.
Griffiths pulled MacGillivray with 2:12 left to add an extra attacker, but Liberty's defense was able to prevent any scoring chances.
Liberty's Maru Cian scored the final goal with 19.1 seconds left on a breakaway empty-netter that made the score look more lopsided than the game really was.
ODU's Molkenboer, Zandbergen and Delphine Le Jeune made the all-tournament team.
Liberty (12-7), which advanced to the NCAA championship game last season, is headed to No. 3 seed Maryland.
"I'm really proud of the growth of our team," Griffiths said,. "LJ (Le Jeune), aside from having the best weekend of hockey I've ever seen this week, has matured tremendously in how she approaches the game this season. She's grown so much more mature.
"It's those kinds of things that mean a lot more to me than any trophy because they are the things that actually matter in life.
"And while deep down I know that, it still really hurts to lose."
The Monarchs were buoyed by a pro-ODU crowd of nearly 600 that was the largest and loudest of the season.
"The crowd tonight was great," Griffiths said. "We couldn't have had a better atmosphere. They were really behind us and made a lot of noise. It made the game fun.
"I really enjoyed the game. I told our players to enjoy the game and they did. They went out and played hard and left it all on the field.
"You couldn't ask for anything more than that."
The future looks bright for ODU. The Monarchs return eight of 11 starters and while they lose MacGillivray, the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Griffiths said he has a commitment from a European goalie.
"We're still a young team," he said. "But this team, this year, was a very special team. They deserved a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament."
He told his players to take care of each other the next few days.
"I'm no less proud of you even though our names didn't get called," he said. "I'm just as upset as you are.
"Be with each other. Appreciate each other. I'm really proud of the people you are."
ODU Field Hockey Team Snubbed by NCAA Tournament Committee for Third Year in a Row
