ODU Women's Soccer Upsets No. 20 Virginia Tech, 2-1

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Head Women’s Soccer Coach Angie Hind is accustomed to receiving Gatorade baths only after winning conference championships. But after the Monarchs upset a nationally-ranked team for the first time in her 12 seasons, her players felt like she deserved another.

The Monarchs got goals from Brooke Edwards and Riley Mullen, and played near-perfect defense, to defeat No. 20 Virginia Tech, 2-1, Thursday night before 750 cheering fans at the ODU Soccer Complex.

Afterwards, while she was doing post-game media interviews, her players doused her with a sloshy bucket of orange liquid.

“I was really surprised” by the Gatorade bath, Hind said. “But this is a victory that should be celebrated."

Indeed it is. It was ODU’s first win over a ranked team since 1998, when the Monarchs upset No. 24 George Washington, and the first victory over the Hokies since 1999.

It was also the second home victory for ODU (3-1-1) over a power conference school in less than two weeks – the Monarchs defeated Maryland, 2-0, on Aug. 24.

Hind loads her non-conference schedule with as many good teams as she can and her Monarchs have come close in recent years against schools such as Auburn and Duke. The Monarchs opened this season with a 2-2 tie at then No. 19-ranked Georgetown. 

“We’ve knocked on the door year after year and you know, so many times we’ve been within a goal or we’ve been in a tie with very good top 25 teams,” she said. “And we really felt like, now’s the time, you know, to go out and beat a team.

“And we beat an excellent team tonight. Virginia Tech is a very excellent team.”

Thursday’s victory was more dominant than the final score indicated.

ODU outshot the Hokies, 13-6, and in the final five minutes, as the Tech was desperately trying to tie the score, the Monarchs kept the Hokies bottled up in their own end of the field for more than four minutes. 

Tech’s only goal came 4 minutes and 24 seconds into the game when Ellie Robertson appeared to attempt a crossing pass in front of the ODU net. It appeared headed out of bounds. However, the wind caught the ball and drove it into the corner of the net.

ODU responded five minutes later when Yuliia Khrystiuk passed to Mullen, who drilled the ball into the left corner of the net, just past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Lauren Hargrove.

Then, late in the first half, Grace Hillis powered a long pass to Finja Kappmeier, who one-timed the ball to Edwards, who headed it into the net.

At game’s end, the Monarchs ran to midfield and gathered in a circle to celebrate.

“This is a little bit of validation for all the hard work that we’ve done,” Hind said. “I’m a little tired of hearing my colleagues saying, ‘Oh, you guys have a good team.’

“And that’s all well and good when you lose a game by a goal or you tie. But now we can say, ‘Yeah, we are actually are a good team and earned that respect that I think we deserve.'

“We spoke to our players before the game and said we’ve been here so many times and lost with 10 seconds on the clock or in overtime or on a silly goal, and tonight we just wanted to make our mark.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of our team and how they played.”

The Monarchs don’t have much time to rest on their laurels as they hit the road on Sunday for a 6 p.m. game at VCU. They begin their Sun Belt Conference schedule Saturday, Sept. 13, at home against App State at 6 p.m.