BLACKSBURG, Va. - Old Dominion women’s soccer opened the 2026 regular season with a 2-1 loss against in-state foe Virginia Tech on Thursday evening.
“Tonight was a good test for us early in the season, we definitely grew into the game, and the coaches were proud of the way the team bounced back in the second half,” said ODU head coach Will Roberts. “I think in the second half we had some big opportunities that we knew we needed to take. But taking positives, we created a lot of chances in our opening game. We will continue to improve and bounce back this weekend, I’m excited to see how we respond as a group.”
ODU (0-1) opened the scoring in the 18th minute of Roberts’ first game in charge of the Monarchs. The goal came from a fast-paced counterattack, sparked by a header won by Dylan McEntarfer, who found Katie Lutz down the wing. The senior from Carrollton, Va. slid a through ball to Riley Mullen, who found a trailing Madison Telmer in the middle of the box to cap off the Silver and Blue’s first goal of the season, and take a 1-0 lead.
Virginia Tech (1-0) answered back 10 minutes later with a goal from Riley Karpinski. Anna Weir had crossed the ball into the box, found Karpinski, and she slotted it past ODU’s Emily Earles 1-1. Old Dominion took six shots in the first half and registered two on target, VT took eight shots and had two on target. Tech also held a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks going into the break.
The game opened up in the second half at the 64th minute when Ashley Economopoulos fired a shot from outside the box that missed just wide. A minute later, ODU successfully pressed the ball away from Tech, causing an errant pass that Koto Davis stole and first time passed onto a darting Mullen in the middle of the pitch with only the goalie to beat. The senior from Staten Island, New York went around VT’s goalkeeper, Julianna Trujillo, but couldn’t find the power to put the ball in the back of the net. Tech capitalized on the opportunity and brought the ball back onto their end of the field.
A foul by Sydney Somers gave VT a free kick at midfield and the Hokies went down the sideline to find a scrappy goal from Hannah Pachan, assisted by Eliana Salama, to take the 2-1 lead. ODU’s best chance to strike back came in the 89th minute when Mullen found herself on the end of a cross and struck the ball with her right foot, but it wasn’t enough to beat Trujillo. Old Dominion had one final corner kick with 22 seconds remaining and Ashlynn Kulha found herself with a chance to level the game, but her header went off the mark.
ODU had eight shots in the second half to finish with 18. ODU had three shots on target in the final stanza and had two corner kicks. The Hokies ended the night with 15 shots, four on goal and had six corners. Grace Hillis, McEntarfer, and Kulha all played a full 90 minutes while Mullen and Economopoulos both led the team with three shots and two shots on goal.
Transfer Goalkeeper Emily Earles made her first career start at Old Dominion but was subbed off at halftime for Ellie Goodrich. Goodrich made one save and conceded one goal in 45 minutes between the sticks.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs return to Norfolk, Va. and the ODU Soccer Complex to face Longwood on Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 6 p.m.