NORFOLK, Va. – When the final horn sounded after Old Dominion's 12-11 women's lacrosse victory over Elon two weeks ago, you would have thought ODU had won a championship.
The Monarchs and their coaches, all clad in Hudson Blue, screamed with joy, shed their sticks and goggles, ran onto the field and piled onto goalie Jenna Peccia.
Lilly Siskind, the ODU captain from West Chester, Pennsylvania, said that most of the 186 onlookers in Elon, North Carolina, surely were confused. Why celebrate a non-conference victory with such gusto?
Simply put, because winning is not something the Monarchs are yet accustomed to.
Since claiming the Atlantic Sun title in 2016, a glorious season in which the Monarchs triumphed over Virginia Tech, Liberty and VCU, ODU hasn't had a winning season.
They've gone 29-67 in the six seasons since and won just one conference game the last two seasons.
This season there is a new coaching staff, a new work ethic and a new attitude. With a roster balanced with experience and young talent, new head coach Theresa Walton declines to call this a rebuilding year.
Even though ODU is a member of the American Athletic Conference, one of the nation's best lacrosse leagues, she believes her Monarchs can win a lot of games this spring.
ODU opens at home today against William & Mary at 5 p.m. with a 2-1 record. And although this is another non-conference game, it could mark another step forward for the program. The Tribe beat ODU 18-11 last season and lead the all-time series against ODU, 38-13.
Haley O'Connor
ODU is 2-1 after a 14-8 loss at VCU and a 13-3 triumph over Radford and is itching to play at home.
"We can't wait," said Siskind, who leads ODU with 10 goals. "We're so ready to play on our turf."
Walton is a Syracuse, New York native and one of the brightest young coaches in the game. She grew up with a lacrosse stick in her hands.
"I remember very vividly when I was four or five years old watching my brother play catch in the yard with his friends, then getting our first sticks for Christmas," she said.
One of four children, Walton said her twin sister "was a built-in partner to play catch with."
She grew up watching many lacrosse a lacrosse game in Syracuse University's Carrier Dome – now the JMA Wireless Dome.
She played at Canisius and then quickly rose through the coaching ranks, which included a stop at VCU, where she coached two years and became familiar with ODU.
She then became head coach at Youngstown State, where she coached the school's first team in 2021 and in 2022, took the Penguins to a Mid-American Conference title regular-season title.
Jayme Weber
When Heather Holt resigned as the Monarchs' coach after last season, the Monarchs sought out Walton, who was attracted to ODU in part because of its affiliation with the AAC, which in women's lacrosse is a power league.
The AAC has two teams in the NCAA lacrosse top 15 – No. 7 Florida and No. 13 James Madison. ODU was picked to finish last in the AAC, which also includes Cincinnati, East Carolina, Temple and Vanderbilt.
"If we climb to the top of our conference and get within the top four, then we're ready to play in the NCAA Tournament," she said. "If we get there, we feel like we can compete in the big dance. This conference is right up there with the Power 5."
She also loved the lacrosse facilities at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex, with a locker room and coaches offices steps away from the lacrosse/field hockey stadium, and a weight-training that also serves ODU'S FBS football program.
"When I was at VCU, I got familiar with the facilities here," she said. "And the facilities here at really good.
"For college lacrosse players to reach their maximum potential, it really helps to have everything close to each other.
"I think I try to always throw myself back into my experience as a student-athlete. And would I have gone to ODU? Absolutely."
Walton quickly hired a young staff – Hailey Dobbins, an assistant at American University and a SUNY Courtland graduate, and Meg Clements, who coached the last six seasons at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Her first task when she came to ODU was to interview every player one on one. She said she quickly deduced "that the culture here was very strong."
Siskind credits that culture to Holt and her staff.
"We respect our past coaches a lot," she said. "They're the people that recruited us and got this team together."
But the Monarchs have also embraced a new and younger coaching staff.
"Meg is a firecracker," said defender Katie McGrain, a senior from Forest Hill, Maryland and along with Siskind, a co-captain.
"She's our offensive coach. After we score a goal, she's the first one celebrating with us. She's jumping up and down on the sidelines. And then coach Hailey, she kind of keeps us all together, but she has that same burst of energy."
Siskind said the coaches "live, breathe and talk about lacrosse every single chance they can. They expect us to put in extra time but they're putting in that extra time with us."
McGrain said the team's No. 1 goal is to be playing in May, meaning making the AAC Tournament.
"We know we came into the season as the team ranked at the bottom of the conference and we're fine with that," she said.
"But that's not going to define what this team is capable of. We want to prove to people that we have a great team, and we are a team to be reckoned with."
Jenna Peccia in goal for ODU
Walton said the team has been working hard on and off the athletic field. Earlier this winter, the team did a fundraiser, in which every player was encouraged to call or text 10 people in their lives who had been important to them in their lacrosse careers.
Walton said to thank them for their help, let them know where you are now and ask, if they're willing, to make a small contribution toward the lacrosse program.
In a matter of weeks the effort raised $24,000, which likely will be put to use in upgrading the locker room.
"Our players all know that we're all in this together," she said.
Walton said winning the first game against Elon was a big first step
"We wanted them to get back to feeling good about things and we put a lot of weight on them on that first game, a lot of pressure in terms of just needing to win," she said.
"We needed them to feel how good it feels to win again, against any opponent. You know, at the Division I level, the best part is that on any given day with any given team, it's always going to be a battle. You have to take it. You know it's never just going to be given to you.
"You have to earn it day in and each minute you're out there. And they really took advantage of that."
After they celebration at Elon ended, she asked her players: "Okay, are we happy about this? Yes.
"But are we satisfied? No."
Siskind call the post-game celebration one of the most joyous moments of her career.
"It was all about everything we'd put into getting ready for the opener, the conditioning the lifts, as well as our new coaching staff," she said.
"I mean, I still get emotional about it because it's everything up until that point that we just dealt with and feel like we were finally on the right path.
"It was an awesome feeling."
One the Monarchs hope to replicate often this season.
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: With New Coach and New Work Ethic, ODU Women's Lacrosse Off to its Best Start in Years
