CONWAY, S.C. -- Anessa Arndt's goal at 68:09 and another stellar defensive effort proved to be the difference on Friday night as Old Dominion opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 1-0 win over Coastal Carolina on the road.
With the win, ODU (6-0-2, 1-0-0) matches the 2006 team for longest unbeaten run to start a season as that squad won their first eight matches.
"The most important thing in opening weekend is to try to kick off with a win and so we are really pleased," said ODU Head Coach Angie Hind. "As expected, it was a real tough game. Both teams competed hard for the entire match and so in that sense I was pleased that we managed to find a way to get all three points tonight."
Old Dominion intercepted a Coastal Carolina (3-5, 0-1) throw-in and Rhea Kijowski pushed it down the near sideline where she served it back to a waiting Arndt who sent a blast in from outside the penalty box. Her shot slid through past a diving Vivienne Carr for the 1-0 lead.
From there, the Monarchs defense finished off the seventh shutout in eight matches keeping the Chanticleers off the board. On the night, ODU outshot the hosts 14-6.
The Monarchs controlled tempo for most of the first half and held an 8-3 advantage in shots. Emily Bredek made one save in the opening 45 minutes as she recorded her sixth shutout of the season. She is now tied for fourth in school history on the single-season clean sheet list with her six.
Old Dominion returns home on Thursday night for a matchup against Louisiana at 7 p.m. at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
Seventh Shutout Leads Women's Soccer Over Coastal Carolina 1-0
Anessa Arndt