By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – For the record, Ece Turkoglu is right-footed, although anyone who saw her score the second goal for the Old Dominion women's soccer team Sunday night might have a hard time believing that to be true.
Turkoglu, ODU's fifth-year, All-Sun Belt Conference midfielder from Istanbul, Turkey, turned to her left about 20 yards in front of the net and rifled a shot that Campbell goalkeeper JLo Varada never had a chance to stop at 74:49 in the Monarchs' 2-0 victory over the Camels.
Ece Turkoglu celebrating with teammates
The goal gave ODU some breathing room in what was an even match much of the way.
The match was scoreless at the 60:52 mark when Andrea Balcazar Algarin, a sophomore from Mexico City, headed an exceptional pass from Anna Tørsløv, a graduate student from Copenhagen, Denmark, into the right side of net.
It was the second victory in three days for ODU (2-0), which won at George Mason, 3-0, on Thursday night.
ODU outshot Campbell 18-4, including a 12-2 margin in the second half, and although shots on goal can be a misleading statistic, on this night it was telling. Most of the game was played in front of the Campbell goal.
"It was tough for us to find any kind of rhythm in the first half but in the second half, I think we kind of ground them down a bit," head coach Angie Hind said.
"We were knocking on the door and eventually we got a breakthrough. I just wanted us to keep going. You can see we're quite deep, so we can shuffle the pack a little bit."
The Monarchs indeed showed their depth, with five of the eight players off the bench clocking in 40 minutes or more against Campbell. But they are also young, as 11 of the 29 players are newcomers.
"There's a lot we need to get better at doing," Hind said. "We have so many different players that have never played together.
"I'm pleased with what we're doing as a whole, but it's very early."
Hind said Turkoglu's goal was reminiscent of her first goal for ODU, which was so spectacular it should be in the running for the ESPN Top 10 plays of the night.
"That goal was a collector's item," Hind said. "Ece doesn't have much of a left foot, but she plays so hard that I think she didn't think about it and that's why it worked."
Turkoglu gave up her body midway through the first half to head away a pass right in front of the ODU net and was knocked to the ground for her effort.
Algarin's goal, Hind said, "was a great team goal. We moved the ball, we probed in the right area, we had a quality cross and great timing on the runs.
"It was a coaches' dream. It's the kind of goal you want to score."
Although she did not score, Gry Boe Thrysøe, the junior from Klarup, Denmark who missed last season with an injury, drew praise from Hind.
"She was our best player," Hind said. "She kept us in rhythm and won some important tackles in the middle of the field. I generally don't love to call out names, but she was so good it would be tough not to do so tonight."
Gry Boe Thrysoe
The Monarchs will be tested Thursday in their next outing when they visit VCU at 6 p.m. Then return home to face Richmond next Sunday at 6 as well.
The Monarchs are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games against VCU, which was picked to finish third in the A-10.
"We've been on the wrong side of the result against VCU way too many times," Hind said. "It's usually been an either-way game, but we haven't managed to win enough.
"VCU will be a big challenge for us."
ODU Women's Soccer Opens Home Slate With 2-0 Win Over Campbell
