Nov. 1, 2002
The Old Dominion men's soccer team travels to Richmond, VA today to take on Colonial Athletic Association rival #19 Virginia Commonwealth this evening at 7:00 p.m. at Sports Backer Stadium.
The Monarchs come into the game at the top of the CAA, three points ahead of VCU and William and Mary. ODU has a 5-1-1 conference record while VCU is an undefeated 4-0-1.
The teams will be playing for a first round bye in the CAA playoffs. Only the top six teams make the post-season tournament, with the two highest ranked squads receiving the byes. The tournament begins on Wednesday, November 13th with the other four teams playing for the right to move on. The remaining four teams will meet for the championship starting on Friday, November 15th at the Va. Beach Sportsplex. The championship game will be that Sunday, the 17th at the Sportsplex.
Tonight's game is also a matchup between the conference's best scorers, ODU's Attila Vendegh (Bratislava, Slovakia) and the Ram's Matthew Delicate. Vendegh netted his CAA best 13th goal of the season against James Madison in 1-1 tie on Wednesday night. Delicate is right behind him in a tie for second place with nine tallies. VCU boasts the best offense in the league, averaging 6.14 points per game. The Monarchs are third with 5.46 points a contest.
This will also be Old Dominion's seventh meeting with a ranked opponent. With wins over then ranked #12 American and #24 Hofstra, the Monarchs are 2-5 so far in these matchups.
Tonight's game will be ODU's second to last regular season contest as their game at Penn State, scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled due to adverse winter conditions. No make up date will be set and the Monarchs will close the regular season next Saturday at William and Mary.