COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Old Dominion women’s soccer defeated Maryland for the second-straight year, this time in College Park, as the Monarchs defeated the Terps 2-0 on Thursday night.
“I’m proud of the group. As always on game day, they gave their all in every moment,” said ODU head coach Will Roberts. “We said going into this game, we’ve been putting together good performances against top teams, but this week we need to get over the line. We need to learn to win on the road against good teams. But we know if we want to keep this winning feeling, we have a lot of work to do and keep improving.”
The Monarchs (2-4) opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Fourth year defender Grace Hillis delivered a long throw from the edge of the Monarchs’ final third to fourth year forward Riley Mullen. The Staten Island, New York native settled the ball near the top of the box and passed to fourth year midfielder Madison Telmer.
The Singapore native fired a shot and found the top right corner of the net from outside the box. Maryland’s (2-2-1) Faith Luckey wasn’t able to stop it from finding the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
Maryland’s best chance of the first 45 came in the 42nd minute. ODU goalkeeper Emily Earles parried away an incoming cross outside the box and UMD’s Mckinley Heaven settled the ball on her right foot and struck towards goal.
The fifth year goalkeeper made a great extension and deflected the ball out for a corner kick. Earles finished the first half with two saves to keep ODU’s 1-0 advantage intact as both sides headed into halftime.
ODU began the second half and pushed forward for the second goal. The Silver and Blue’s efforts paid off five minutes into the final 45. Dylan McEntarfer won a 50-50 ball and pushed the ball up the field to Katie Lutz on the right wing.
The fourth year midfielder took only a few steps before whipping a cross from the middle of the field to third year forward Hannah Morgan in the middle of the box. Morgan slid and connected with the cross on her right leg to ease the ball past Luckey into the back of the net to go up 2-0.
Maryland took two shots in the second half and neither threatened the ODU goal enough to force Earles into making a save. ODU’s Alaina Subong had the Monarchs’ final crack at goal in the 85th minute. The first year defender struck the ball hard towards the net but didn’t force Luckey into making a tough save.
ULM transfer and Preseason Sun Belt First Team defensive selection Libby Holmes made her first appearance in silver and blue on Thursday night. Roberts said of her Monarch debut, “Libby has been a big part of our team, I’m excited she’s back playing once again and getting valuable minutes. It’s never easy watching the game from the sidelines, but Libby has remained positive and has been working tirelessly on her rehab, she looks great. She’s only going to get better as the weeks progress. But great to see her back on the field!”
Old Dominion finished the night with six shots and five shots on goal. The Terrapins had nine shots in the first half but only two in the second and registered two shots on target. ODU and UMD took five corner kicks each.
“Tonight was a step in the right direction, but we need to finish strong in our final game of non-conference against Liberty,” said Roberts. “Then we will turn our attention to the Sun Belt.”
Morgan scored her third goal of the season and Telmer netted her second. McEntarfer, Lutz, and Mullen all provided an assist. Ashlynn Kulha, McEntarfer, and Telmer each logged 90 minutes on the pitch.
Earles recorded her first clean sheet with the Monarchs and made two saves. UMD’s Luckey made three saves and conceded two goals in 90 minutes.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion travels to Lynchburg, Virginia to face Liberty on Sunday, September 13 at 1 p.m.