FOLEY, Ala. - Old Dominion women’s soccer bowed out of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament following a 3-2 loss to ULM on Wednesday night at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex.
“First of all, congrats to ULM,” said ODU head coach Angie Hind. “They have proved all season their ability to hurt teams, and they caught us cold in the first half and punished us.”
ODU (11-3-4) stormed back in the final 20 minutes to put two goals on the board and make things interesting. In the 70th minute. Andrea Balcazar Algarin chipped a quickly taken free kick onto the path of Riley Mullen who whipped a cross by the by-line and found sophomore forward Hannah Morgan who connected with the ball on her right foot to give ODU some momentum.
ODU kept plugging along and was able to cut the deficit to just one goal with two minutes left. Freshman forward Ashley Economopoulos got on the end of a double assist from Balcazar and Mullen and her right footed shot found the top right corner of the net. Balcazar would have ODU’s last chance to score with a shot attempt in the 88th minute but it was pushed from the goal.
“But, I don’t think I can remember many times feeling prouder as a coach as I was tonight with how we battled and showed relentless spirit to try to level the game up,” said Hind. “Nobody on that field or bench could have given any more of themselves in the second half and that is the character and togetherness that this program is built on.”
The Warhawks (13-2-4) scored three goals in the span of 12 minutes in the first half. In the 18th minute, Sun Belt Player of the Year Skylar Blaise opened the scoring following a shot on goal from Edda Margret Bjarnadottir that was initially saved by ODU’s Ellie Goodrich but the deflection fell right into the path of Blaise for the opening goal.
Blaise would secure a brace four minutes later after scoring from a strike that found its way past Goodrich. ULM would score its final goal of the opening half and the game at the 30th minute mark after an awkward free kick to deal with was headed into the back of the net by Ashlynn Kulha.
Gry Boe Thrysoe would try to get ODU on the board early in the second half, she had a shot on goal in the 47th minute but it was parried away by ULM’s Jen Handy. Brooke Edwards had an attempt blocked in the 51st and Koto Davis got her shot blocked by ULM defenders before ODU’s first goal.
Mullen, Kulha, and Thrysoe all played the full 90 minutes of action. Thrysoe and Mullen each had a team high four shots, the midfielder from Denmark had a team high two shots on goal. Economopoulos and Balcazar both registered two shots each. Balcazar and Mullen both finished with two assists after combining in the build-up play to both goals ODU scored.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs still have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Going into tonight’s game, ODU had a NCAA RPI of 48 heading into tonight's contest. The NCAA Selection Show will take place on Monday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.