PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Old Dominion Field Hockey team punched its ticket to the BIG EAST Championship after winning their 11th straight game, 2-0 against Temple in the BIG EAST semifinals on Friday. Sacha de Gier and Anna Miller both scored for the Monarchs.
Old Dominion (13-5, 6-1) controlled the game in the first quarter as they got two shots on goal but were unable to score. ODU opened the scoring in the second quarter with five minutes to play on a penalty corner when Frederique Zandbergen sent a ball into Danielle Husar who set up de Gier. Her shot hit the post and bounced past the Temple keeper giving the Monarchs a 1-0 lead at halftime.
The second half was even as Temple outshot ODU 5-4. Old Dominion extended the lead in the third quarter on a penalty corner when Zandbergen sent a ball to Rina Tsioles who fed Miller. Miller took a shot that ricocheted off the Owls keeper and into the back of the cage. ODU held on to the two-goal advantage for the final 28 minutes and recorded the teams ninth shutout of the season.
Suus Broers made two saves facing five shots and added her sixth shutout of the season.
"In the big picture it's tough to win in the playoffs. We didn't give them a lot of opportunities on our defensive end and recorded another shutout. The first half we did really well closing them down and keeping possession of the ball," said Griffiths.
"Second half we got a little bit caught up in the speed of the game and didn't play as sharply and we have room to get better for Sunday's game. The message today was being about our team and not getting caught into the environment. The crowd was pretty aggressive today and wasn't friendly and I thought we handled that well," said Griffiths.
"On Sunday the message is the same and stick to our gameplan and do the things that we do really well. We haven't changed tactically much from game to game."
The Monarchs will take on #6 Liberty on Sunday, Nov. 5 in the Championship Game in a rematch of last season's Championship starting at 1 p.m. at Howarth Field.
ODU Field Hockey Advances To BIG EAST Championship After 2-0 Against Temple
