By: Connie Farmer
Contributing Writer
The Lady Monarchs were pumped up and ready to compete against the Virginia Cavaliers at home on March 30. On or off the field, their spirit was contagious to those who made it out to watch on the cold, wet Wednesday night. The Lady Monarchs were determined to improve their 1-5 record so far this season, and were not going down without a hard fight. Unfortunately the Cavaliers played a very solid game, beating the Lady Monarchs with a final score of 9-5.
The Cavaliers got a lot of momentum going early in the game, with four goals in the first seven minutes. Old Dominion had only made one goal against Virginia by this point in the game, scored by senior Lisa Bernardini. Although down 4-1 early, the Lady Monarchs kept up their high energy and enthusiasm, working together well on the field and cheering from the sideline. Head Coach Sue Stahl was pleased with the girls’ enthusiasm over the course of the game and said that they played “spirited.”. With 17:05 left in the first half, ODU’s Tracy Reed scored their second goal of the night, assisted by Bernardini. The excitement of this goal was soon shut down by the Cavaliers’ scoring again within a minute of the Lady Monarch’s second goal and keeping their three shot lead with a score of 5-2.
Old Dominion still had 16 minutes left in the half to make up some ground. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers were not making it easy. The Lady Monarchs were unable to make any more goals by the end of the period. The Cavaliers’ Caroline McTiernan scored one more goal with 13:19 left to play in the first half, making the score 6-2 at half time. With 11 shots on net and only two goals, compared to Virginia’s 15 shots on net with six goals, the women were fighting as hard as they could.
In the second half, ODU came out ready to make something happen, with Rebecca Hartrum scoring early. The Cavaliers, not letting the Lady Monarchs get comfortable, scored again just over a minute later. This did not intimidate the Lady Monarchs, with junior Alyssa Dragon scoring another goal with 23:37 left in the game to move within three of Virginia.
The Cavaliers scored two more goals in the next eighteen minutes, giving themselves a comfortable lead of 9-4 with 5:26 left to play ODU Head Coach Sue Stahl, called a time out at this point in the game. Just 28 seconds after the time out, junior Rebecca Hartrum scored, bringing the Lady Monarchs within 4 of the Cavaliers. This goal was followed by another great shot by ODU soon after. The Lady Monarchs were fighting one hundred percent in the last 5 minutes of the game. Rebecca Hartrum hits the post with 2:32 left to go. Unfortunately, their efforts didn’t get them the win they were so hoping for.
The Lady Monarchs are now focused on beating North Carolina at their next game on Sunday, April 3. What can the girls do better to get a victory against North Carolina? Coach Stahl said that their Achilles heel is the 75-yard- runs that allowed the Virginia Cavaliers two to three goals over the course of the game. “That’s been our weakness this year, we can’t allow those,” said Stahl. “Without them tonight it would have been a pretty tight game.” There were also some opportunities to score against the Cavaliers that Coach Stahl didn’t feel the Lady Monarchs took advantage of. Coach Stahl did, however, like the confidence the Lady Monarchs had in themselves and the other players on the field,” Coach Stahl said. “Our attitude was much better tonight than the beginning of the season. We played better together.”
Photo by: Jake Zimmerman
