NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion men’s soccer dismantled Radford, 7-1 on Wednesday evening at the ODU Soccer Complex. ODU is 4-0 for the first time in 14 years and improved its all-time record against the Highlanders to 9-0.
“It was a very good result tonight,” said ODU head coach Tennant McVea. “The lads have been working really hard these past few weeks. We need to continue to push forward in this home stretch and prepare well for a tough test against Bucknell on Sunday”
ODU (4-0) opened the scoring in 55 seconds in to take the lead. Jason Purks crossed the ball into the box after a corner kick attempt from Ludovico Vicini went too far. Purks put the ball into the box and it rattled around until falling to George Maire in the six-yard box. Maire struck the ball with his left foot and was stopped by a Radford (1-2) defender. But, fourth year defender David Chapman was in the perfect position and slotted the rebound into the back of the net.
Radford’s Gabriele Sellati earned a straight-red card in the 19th minute after a dangerous challenge by the Highlander took out Alessandro Maldonado. The foul was initially given as a yellow but after a VAR review the call was upgraded to a red card. Three minutes later in the 22nd minute, ODU earned a penalty kick for a handball in the box by a Radford defender and Purks fired his shot into the top left corner of the net for a 2-0 ODU lead.
ODU kept applying pressure and scored their third goal of the evening in the 27th minute. Purks collected the ball on the left wing, just inside the box, and lobbed a through ball to the far post where ODU’s Otu Bisong was waiting to head it home to make the score 3-0. The Monarchs’ final goal of the first half came in the 42nd minute, Lewis Rourke was on the receiving end of a whipped inswinging cross from the corner flag from Vicini. The ball connected with the fourth year forwards head at the far post for a tap-in to make the score 4-0.
Thirteen minutes into the second half, ODU extended its lead to five goals Matthew Moffatt slid in a ground cross from the left wing across the face of the goal and Maire settled the ball into the path of first year forward Mile Zivkovic who rifled a volley over the head of RU’s Ben Miller to go ahead 5-0.
Radford scored their first goal of the evening in the 71st minute from the penalty spot. The Highlanders shouted for the spot kick after an ODU defender handed the ball in the box. RU’s Dax Booth calmly stepped up to the spot and fired it past Aguilar to make the score 5-1.
The Monarchs responded four minutes later and Nicholas Alves scored his first goal in just under two years. The fourth year forward sat out the entirety of last season with an injury and last found the back of the on Nov. 1, 2024 against Georgia Southern. Aguilar provided his second assist for the Monarchs after bombing a long pass down the field from a free kick. His pass found the head of Rourke who headed it onto the path of Alves to slot the ball past RU’s Miller, 6-1.
Zivkovic capped off the night for the Monarchs in the 76th minute. Rourke held the ball up at the top of the Highlanders’ box and laid off a pass to the first year forward from New City, New York. Zivkovic struck the ball hard and low towards the near post and RU’s Miller was a fraction off as the ball slid past him for the Silver and Blue’s seventh and final goal of the evening.
Old Dominion ended the night with 19 shots and 13 shots on target. The Monarchs also finished with a +4-corner kick advantage over the Highlanders (6-2). Radford finished with six shots and two shots on goal.
ODU fielded 24 players throughout the match and the only player to play the full 90 minutes was Aguilar. Zivkovic’s two goals and Maire’s four shots led the Monarchs. Radford’s Boreham Jackson and Mauricio Jimenez both played 90 minutes.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion has two more games in its five-game homestand. The Monarchs face Bucknell on Sunday, September 6 at 1 p.m. and then host UMBC on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.