LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Old Dominion Field Hockey team fell to #10 Liberty in the BIG EAST opener on Friday, 2-0 in Lynchburg.
In the first quarter ODU (2-4) had an opportunity to get on the board early with a corner. The Monarchs fired off three shots which were all saved. #10 Liberty (6-1) would go down the field and get a corner of its own and would end up converting it as Jodie Connelly found Tuti Dell Anna who slotted it past the keeper. The second quarter was a defensive battle as both teams tried to get into the offensive third, but neither could record a shot in the quarter and the score remained in favor of Liberty, 1-0.
In the third quarter Old Dominion came out and put pressure on Liberty as for most of the quarter they controlled the ball in the Liberty defensive half and were able to take four shots and got a corner but unable to find the back of the cage and went into the fourth quarter trailing the Flames by one.
The fourth quarter was controlled by Liberty as they outshot the Monarchs 5-0. The Flames extended its lead with 24 seconds left as Reagan Underwood took a pass from Lou Combrink and slapped it past Suus Broers.
"We were really focused coming into this game and it was an extremely even game in terms of opportunities and play on the field. I thought we played well in the game, but we have to find a way to convert attacking play into goals. We had the ball in Liberty's end a lot, and did not get enough outcomes in terms of corners and good shots on goal," said head coach Andrew Griffiths.
"Credit to those Liberty players, they played tough and they found a way to get the outcomes. We need to flip the script and find ways to win tough games. That's three very challenging games we have played against top 10 teams, that have been even but slipped away from us."
ODU is back in action on Sunday, Sept. 17 at #9 Duke starting at 1 p.m.
ODU Field Hockey Falls To #10 Liberty To Open BIG EAST Play
