Late Second Half Blast Lifts Women's Soccer To Road Win Over Marshall

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Visiting Old Dominion used a first half goal from Ece Turkoglu and a rocket shot from Anna Tørsløv with 6:50 left as the Monarchs defeated Marshall 2-1 on Thursday night in a Sun Belt Conference women's soccer matchup.
 
With the win ODU goes to 9-1-2 on the year and 3-0 in the Sun Belt East Division, while Marshall drops to 6-5-1 overall and 0-2 in the division.  
 
"I am incredibly proud of this team tonight because this could have gone either way. Marshall was well organized and disciplined and always a threat," said ODU Head Coach Angie Hind. "We needed something special to get the win and what a fantastic strike it was from Anna.
 
Tørsløv took a feed from Gry Boe Thrysoe, got control of the ball and made a couple turns before uncorking a rocket from a couple steps past the 18-yard penalty box. She curved it into the left side of the net at 83:10 to put the Monarchs back up 2-1. From there, the Monarchs maintained possession and kept the Thundering Herd pinned on their side to take the win.
 
The first half saw the Monarchs control the possession for most of the half and forced Ashlyn Drayer into a pair of saves. A Marshall foul was called at 31:50 of the opening half as Andrea Balcazar Algarin took the free kick and served it into the box. Turkoglu took the bounce and popped it into the net as ODU gained a 1-0 advantage.
 
In the second half, Marshall came out of the break as the aggressor and converted an opportunity three minutes into the second half. Bailey Fisher took a feed in the box from Olivia Gandee turning and sticking it in the right upper corner to even the match at 47:59.
 
From there, each team had waves of controlling the action until the Monarchs forced the turnover which set up the game-winner from Tørsløv.
 
On the night, ODU outshot Marshall 14-8 and had a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. Emily Bredek made three saves on the night in goal for the Monarchs.
 
"Getting a result here tonight was always going to need a huge team effort and I thought we supported each other so well tonight and gave everything. I'm so proud of this group.," Hind said.
 
ODU returns home for a TowneBank Royal Rivalry matchup on Sunday night as James Madison visits the ODU Soccer Stadium for a 6 p.m. kick.