NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion women’s soccer finished the 2025 regular season on a high note. They picked up their 10th win after defeating East Division foe, Georgia State, 2-1 at the ODU Soccer Complex on Wednesday night.
The Monarchs take first place in the East Division and will be the number two seed in the Sun Belt Conference Championships, held in Foley, Alabama starting on Monday, November 3.
“Super proud of this group,” said ODU head coach Angie Hind. “We had a really good performance tonight against a very good GA STATE side at home and scored two fantastic goals.”
ODU’s (10-2-4, 6-1-3 SBC) Katie Lutz got the first chance at goal on a rainy night in the fifth minute. She swiped at the ball inside the box and forced GSU’s (9-7-2, 5-4-1) Ariana Anderson to make the save. ODU junior keeper Ellie Goodrich thwarted the Panthers first shot on goal from Aaliyah Faddoul in the sixth minute after a counter attack opportunity. Faddoul had a one on one with Goodrich and the keeper didn’t let the ball slide past her.
ODU opened the scoring in the 20th minute from Riley Mullen after a strike from Yuliia Khrystiuk was saved into the path of Mullen in front of goal. She struck the ball with her right foot and found the bottom left of the goal to take a 1-0 lead. ODU capitalized on its second corner kick of the night to find their second goal. Khrystiuk whipped in a ball from the right corner and found Andrea Balcazar Algarin in the middle of the box. The senior midfielder from Mexico City, Mexico struck the delivery with her head and found the top right of the goal.
Faddoul would have another crack at goal in the 40th minute but Goodrich was equal to the shot and deterred it away from any more ODU problems. Koto Davis tried to get the Silver and Blue’s third goal of the first half with three minutes remaining in the half. She was denied by Anderson, Edwards had her attempt go off the mark and the first half ended, 2-0.
The rain picked up in the second half, but ODU kept pressing forward. Lutz had her shot in the 50th minute saved by Anderson, a strike from Gry Boe Thrysoe was blocked by Panther defenders and Ashlynn Kulha had a header go wide of the net all in the first seven minutes of the final stanza. Faddoul would find a goal for Georgia State in the 72nd minute after ODU defender Kulha dragged her down in the box. She slotted the ball past Goodrich to the top of the net to trim the Panthers’ deficit to one, 2-1.
The Monarchs would respond quickly by securing a corner kick. The cross did not generate a shot attempt. Ashley Economopoulos had a chance to get an insurance goal in the 78th minute, her shot went past the keeper but a trailing Panthers defender blocked the shot for the team save. Madison Telmer also had a shot on target in the 81st towards the bottom left from just outside the box. Her attempt was stifled by Anderson, Economopoulos would look to score ODU’s third again but once again was denied by Anderson. Georgia State would not register a shot for the final 12 minutes of action.
“This conference is really tough, and there is a reason we are one of the top behind the power four,” said Hind. “We have so many strong teams and to finish as East Division champions and tied second overall is a fantastic achievement. Two good victories back to back sets us up well to head to Foley next week.”
ODU outshot GSU 13-6 and 8-3 in shots on target. ODU took six corners to zero by the Panthers. Sydney Somers, Thrysoe, and Kulha all played the full 90 minutes. Four Monarchs were tied for first on the team with two shots (Lutz, Mullen, Balcazar, and Economopoulos).
Goodrich played 90 minutes in net and made two saves. Anderson made five saves in 90 minutes.
UP NEXT:
ODU will await word from the Sun Belt Conference to find out who they will be slated to take on in the first round of the Sun Belt Championships.