Katie Nearhouse and Emma Batten both get a pair of goals in win over Hofstra
Written By: Kathryn Mason
Staff Writer
Putting an end to the Lady Prides four game winning streak, nationally ranked Old Dominion once again proved why they are No. 1 in the nation. Old Dominion dominated both sides of the ball throughout the entire game, cutting up any play Hofstra attempted to make and shutting down everything in the middle. With a little over 15 minutes to go in thefirst half and the Lady Monarchs starving for a goal, CAA Co-Player of the week Emma Batten scored the first tally at the 10:28 mark.
Not realizing that Emma was behind her, Hofstra keeper Meredith Golden came out of the cage to challenge Lady Monarch Kathryn Kirk. Kirk[OS1] , being pressured, simply passed the ball across the circle to Emma who easily knocked it in. Soon afterwards, with under a minute remaining, forward Katie Nearhouse decided to take the ball in herself and shot a rocket into the cage with a beautiful pass from junior Maartje van Rijswijk. By the end of the first half, the Lady Monarch defense left the Lady Prides without any shots or corners..
Old Dominion, who, last season, was known for blowing leads and softening up in the second half, did just the opposite in this game. Once again, the Lady Monarch defense led by junior Christy Longacre stopped anything that came in the middle. The few times Hofstra managed to get into the red zone, standout freshmen Kelsey Smither would show her stick work and intercept the ball.
The hour and a half rain delay did have an effect on both teams though. At times, both Old Dominion and Hofstra’s passes were a bit soft and slow. With passes not getting where they needed to go, Old Dominion started to look a bit flustered. At one point, every ball that was dribbled into the circle was cleared by Hofstra and on more than one occasion, the Lady Monarchs were forced to fall back and regroup themselves before surging forward. With a little more than 22 minutes remaining in the game, Nearhouse once again put it upon herself to bring the Lady Monarchs back into the offensive swing of things.
“I hit the ball into the circle, but I hit it from reverse stick, so it was a really soft hit…I guess the keeper underestimated it because next thing I know Kathryn and Emma are running up to me saying I scored.”
Four minutes and 17 seconds later, Batten scored again to put the Monarchs up 4-0. Rijswijk got the assist. Less than three minutes later, Kathryn Kirk hugging the post with her body scored on a sharp pass across the circle from Smither.
As the seconds continued to count down Hofstra started to get desperate. Trying to come up with any type of offense, the Lady Prides made long, inefficient, and inaccurate passes down the field. With under three minutes remaining, Old Dominion Head Coach Beth Anders ordered the girls to move into a strictly defensive mode. “The girls played great today…they were hustling, going the extra mile, making every play count…I thought they deserved a break and Hofstra wasn’t pressuring, so I pulled them back,” Anders said.
Staying out of the circle, but above the Hofstra 25-yard line, Kirk and Nearhouse played keep away for the remainder of the game while the rest of the Lady Monarchs stayed back by the ODU 25 defending their keeper. Senior keeper Devon Seifert notched her third shutout victory of the season in Saturday’s win.
With the win over Hofstra, Old Dominion is now 9-0 on the season and 1-0 in CAA conference play. CAA conference play will continue when the Lady Monarchs take on No. 20 Northeastern Sunday at 1p.m. at the Powhatan Sports Complex. The Lady Monarchs will then be hitting the road again for their next four opponents.
photo taken by Rachel Chasin
