Ashley Economopoulos scores first career goal for ODU Women's Soccer in 1-0 victory over W&M
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Ashley Economopoulos came to Old Dominion with a sterling women’s soccer resume, and that has certainly been reflected in her first two games with the Monarchs.
The freshman from Grantville, Pennsylvania took a feed from senior teammate Yuliia Khrystiuk and drilled it into the right side of the net midway through the second half, and the Monarchs made it stand up for a 1-0 victory over William and Mary in their home opener Sunday at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
Four nights earlier, Economopoulos had an assist in ODU’s season opener at No. 19 Georgetown, where the Monarchs tied the Hoyas, 2-2.
“It was a great opening weekend for us,” ODU Head Coach Angie Hind said.
“To tie Georgetown, who’s one of the nation’s top teams, and the come home and play another game like this, a very physical game, and get the win, that’s huge for us.”
Signing Economopoulos was a huge recruiting win for the Monarchs. The 5-foot-7 forward had 35 goals and 21 assists last season at Lower Dauphin High School and was named Pennsylvania's Player of the Year.
She was also a standout for the Penn Fusion club team.
“Penn Fusion is one of the best clubs in the country,” Hind said. “Obviously, we knew she was good, but she’s surprised me with just how mature she’s come in and played.
“She holds the ball up so well. She has great awareness and as you could see tonight, she finishes under pressure.”
“This win was just a team effort,” added Economopoulos. “The first half, we were close but just couldn’t finish.
“But we really turned it on in the second half. We knew we had to get a goal to win the game and eventually, we just clicked.”
The scoring play began when Khrystiuk picked up an errant Tribe pass and immediately hit the gas. Two defenders headed her way and she sent a touch pass to the streaking Economopoulos.
“From that point, it was all Ashley,” Khrystiuk said. “It was a great goal.
“She’s really a good player. She’s got such a bright future.”
ODU outshot the Tribe, 10-6, and had four corner kicks to William and Mary’s two. But the Tribe (0-1-1) made it interesting in the final minutes as they nearly twice connected on goals.
“It’s always close when we play William & Mary because it’s a rivalry game,” Khrystiuk said. "They didn’t make it easy for us.”
ODU’s back line was superb in the second half.
“With about five minutes to go, they were pushing, they were just sending the ball forward,” Hind said. “There was no other thought other than getting the ball into our final third.
“So, we dropped a player back just to protect that a little bit and when you do that, you invite pressure. And we knew that.
“But we’ve got such a great back line." Sydney Somers, Ashlynn Kulha, Grace Hillis, Kendall Mesh and Dylan McEntarfer, she said. "they were so strong back there. They did a great job to close out the game.”
Goalkeeper Ellie Goodrich had three saves for ODU, all late in the second half. It was the first career game for the junior from Alexandria, Virginia.
ODU next hosts Maryland on Sunday, August 23, at 6 p.m. The Terrapins, a Power 4 school from the Big Ten, are 2-0 after a 3-0 victory over Lehigh and a 5-0 shellacking of Saint Francis.
“We have a week to get ready for Maryland, which is nice, because we’re early in the season,” Hind said. “We need to get better. That gives us some time to do that this week.”