NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women’s soccer came away victorious in this season’s edition of the TowneBank Royal Rivalry after defeating James Madison 1-0 on Thursday night at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
“I thought to a player we were so good tonight. Such a great performance from us both defensively and on the ball,” said ODU Head Coach Angie Hind. Hind secured her 100th career win with ODU with the victory.
ODU (5-1-2) applied pressure on the JMU (4-3-3) defensive line through high pressing for much of the first half. The team’s efforts paid dividends early in the contest, with Ashlynn Kulha connecting from a corner kick that was sent in by Yuliia Khrystiuk. Kulha rose higher than all the Dukes’ defenders and slotted the ball into the roof of the net in the ninth minute of the game.
ODU went on to out-shoot JMU, 11-4, and had two corner kicks to the Dukes’ one attempt. Riley Mullen had a chance to score in the 26th minute and rifled it at JMU keeper Sofia DeCerb. She made a good save on the ball and pushed it away from goal and into the path of her teammate. Freshman forward Ashley Economopoulos had a couple of chances in the 30th minute with one chance that was saved in the top center of the net and had another crack at goal, but the attempt was off target. Despite the chances created from its high pressing, ODU was not able to expand upon the lead it had built early in the game.
“I think we really dominated for long spells tonight against what is always a good JMU team,” said Hind. “We were aggressive to defend high and forced a lot of turnovers in their half. But when we had the ball, we showed great composure and barring some quality goalkeeping I think it could have been a few more.”
The Monarchs defense, marshalled by Kulha, were able to hold the Dukes to only four shots in the second half. Their first shot of the final half came in the 65th minute from Roos Valk but ODU goalkeeper Ellie Goodrich handled it and made the save. The Monarchs had five shots prior to the Dukes getting a crack at the net. Ginny Lackey took a rip at goal with 14 seconds remaining, but the shot was off target and ODU secured the 1-0 victory.
“It’s a great performance against a good team but we won’t be getting carried away,” said Hind. “It’s three points and we have another tough game coming up this weekend.”
Old Dominion finished with 19 shots, six shots on goal, and five corners. JMU ended the night with eight shots, four on goal, and one corner kick. ODU goalkeeper Ellie Goodrich played all 90 minutes in goal and made four saves. JMU keeper DeCerb also played a complete game and made five saves while allowing one goal.
Gry Boe Thrysoe dictated play in the midfield and had three shot attempts. Last week’s Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, Mullen also had three shots along with Economopoulos. Freshman defender Dylan McEntarfer showed real poise in the back line with 90 minutes on the pitch. She was the only other outfield player besides junior captain Kulha and senior captain Thrysoe to not leave the pitch.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion travels to Conway, South Carolina for the third game of Sun Belt Conference play against Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 21 at the CCU Soccer Complex.