NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men’s soccer team returned to the home pitch of the ODU Soccer Stadium on Saturday night and played to a 0-0 draw with Georgia State in Sun Belt Conference action.
“I think the players are as disappointed in themselves tonight as the staff is as disappointed in that performance. At home in front of another great crowd, I just feel we didn’t bring the right intensity into the game. We have to go and fix that this week because Kentucky next week is a difficult proposition on the road, another good team, and we have to raise our levels in order to go there and pick up points,” said ODU Head Coach Tennant McVea.
ODU (4-4-2, 0-2-1) put the game into attack mode early triggering a pair of early chances as a Marcelo Randolf blast in the fourth minute just missed as it cleared the crossbar. Andrew Bennett had a rip at one in the ninth minute that was snuffed out by goalkeeper Josh Hangui.
The middle part of the first half was a possession game as teams were trading time with the ball, but neither could pull off solid chances. ODU’s defense played strong blocking several shot opportunities in the opening 45 minutes.
In the second half, the Monarchs were pressed early by Georgia State (3-5-2, 0-2-1) as Michael Statham made three of his four saves in the final 45 minutes. ODU had waves of moments, including five corner kicks, but weren’t able to make one connect.
On the night, the shots were even at 12 apiece, while ODU had a slight 8-7 advantage in corner kicks.
“The guys worked hard tonight, but we were second to things and the standards we have set for ourselves were not met. We will address it this week, hope to put this game to bed and do what we need to do to get points next week,” McVea said.
ODU now starts a three-match road swing on Friday at Kentucky.