WASHINGTON, D.C. – Old Dominion field hockey clinched the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament after fending off Georgetown in a 3-2 victory.
“The team worked really hard today and deserved the win,” Head Coach Andrew Griffiths said. “I am proud of them, not only for playing tough, but they didn’t complain at all about playing on a difficult surface. They just focused on the task of winning and we found a way, even after being behind by a goal in the third quarter. It was a gritty performance. Again we had three different goalscorers and that has been a consistent theme for us, getting goals from different players.”
Old Dominion (13-4, 3-3 BIG EAST) was awarded two penalty corners in the first quarter, and Madison Zalewski scored on the second one with help from Serena Langendoen to grab an early lead. Georgetown (6-12, 0-6) didn’t get its first scoring opportunity until two minutes into the second quarter, though the team’s shots were blocked. It wasn’t until 75 seconds remained in the half that the Hoyas got on the board, tying the game at one thanks to a goal from Laney Reiser.
The Hoyas took the lead over ODU after Colleen Maloney scored on a penalty corner with six minutes remaining. However, Lotte Haagmans tied the game once more with an unassisted goal two minutes later, sending the game into the fourth quarter at 2-2.
Langendoen regained the lead for ODU with a goal under four minutes into the fourth quarter off a penalty corner. Georgetown was unable to respond despite ODU receiving two green cards, awarding the Monarchs with a 3-2 victory.
Old Dominion outshot Georgetown, 17-10, as well as collected more corners, 11-9.
Zalewski, Haagmans, and Langendoen shared the top spot in goals scored with one each, while Zalewski, Langendoen, and Nicolette Saccomandi had a game-high one assist each.
Goalkeeper Suus Broers recorded six saves on two goals allowed.
“It was an exciting day for us because we won our game, and two or three minutes later we found out that Temple had beaten Providence, which sealed our spot in the Big East Tournament next weekend,” Griffiths added. “So we enjoyed a double celebration!”
UP NEXT
Old Dominion will face No. 2 seed Liberty on Friday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.