COLUMBUS, Ohio – Old Dominion field hockey opened the 2026 season with a 3-2 victory over Ohio State on Friday night. Josie Painter, Lotte Haagmans, and Serena Langendoen each scored for the Monarchs.
This victory marks the first Monarch win over the Buckeyes since 2011 where the Monarchs secured a 5-0 shutout.
“It’s a great way to start the season for our new team,” head coach Andrew Griffiths said. “The thing we were most happy with is the energy and work rate we played with. We were far from perfect and of course a number of areas to work on. That is always the case at the start of the season. But we played with some fire and fighting spirit - that’s how I want to measure our performances. And I feel great about that, and obviously great to come away with a win against a quality team.”
Painter put the Monarchs on the board first, scoring at the 13-minute mark to begin the game off an assist from Haagmans. Goalkeeper Suus Broers made two saves on Ohio State penalty corners to preserve ODU’s 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, OSU’s Carmela Maro attempted a shot in the Monarch goal, which was denied by Broers. A corner for Ohio was tipped in by Autumn Kernechel and passed to Phillippa Jowett, but was rejected by the Monarch defense to send the game into halftime.
After the break, Langendoen attempted a shot at OSU’s goalkeeper Maddie Stevens, but was denied by the Buckeye defense. At the 32 minute mark, a Monarch goal was revoked and changed to a penalty corner opportunity which was denied by the Buckeye defense. Immediately after, another Monarch corner opportunity allowed Painter to connect with Langendoen to slot it to the right corner for Lotte Haagmans to slice it into the Buckeye goal, improving the score to 2-1 with 35:45 on the clock. With 42 seconds on the clock, OSU’s Maro was able to squeeze past the Monarch defense and put one on the board for Ohio State and close out the third quarter 2-1, Monarchs.
With 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Maro found the back of the net for Ohio State to cut the ODU lead to 2-1 heading into the final quarter.
The Monarchs added to their lead in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter when Langendoen received a pass from Painter and found the back of the net to make it 3-1. Ohio State earned another penalty corner, with Grace Dixon connecting with Jowett, but Broers denied the attempt. Then, three seconds later at the 51-minute mark, Dixon found the back of the net to cut the Monarchs' lead to 3-2. However, that wasn’t enough to stop ODU, giving the team its first win of the season.
The Buckeyes outshot the Monarchs, 15-7, and held an 8-5 advantage in penalty corners. Broers recorded five saves, while Stevens made one save for Ohio State.
UP NEXT
The Monarchs return to Buckeye Varsity Field to take on Bellarmine on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 3 p.m.