ODU Field Hockey Beats JMU to Advance
Written By: Sarah Roby
Staff Writer
Saturday, Nov. 5, Old Dominion University’s field hockey team, the no. 1 seed in the CAA, beat the no. 4 seed, James Madison University. The final score was 6-1 with five of those goals in the second half. ODU had control during the entire game, but the first half was a little shaky.
JMU started with possession of the ball for the first half, but ODU quickly intercepted a pass and took complete control of the field. The passes between the Lady Monarchs were flawless. After about four minutes, ODU scored with 31:34 left in the first half. Maartje vanRijswijk, no. 11, a junior forward, scored with an assist from Emma Batten, no. 8, a senior forward.
After their goal, the Lady Monarchs continued to pass the ball around, but not very aggressively. From the opposite side of the field, head coach Beth Anders could be heard yelling, “You can’t play safe!” The ladies began to push it a little more and gained a corner with about 25 minutes left in the half. The shot on goal was missed and Anders encouraged the girls to “settle down.”
With 11:23 left in the first half, JMU scored on their first attempted shot. The goal was from Rachel Wein, no. 20. There were no more goals during the first half. ODU had seven shots with one corner and had made one of those shots, while JMU had one shot and zero corners and made that one shot.
The second half of the game was much more intense. ODU scored their second goal with 20:13 on the clock. Kimberly Oakes, no. 6, scored the goal and was assisted by Rosario Villagra, no. 10. JMU gained control of the ball for a few seconds and almost scored, but with great defense by Christy Longacre, no. 5, JMU could not score again.
ODU gained possession and with 17:02 left in the second half, they scored their third goal. The goal was from Lydia Velzian, no. 9, and was assisted by Kathryn Kirk, no. 2. ODU’s fourth goal came from a corner with 15:08 on the clock. This goal was made by Stephanie Kratzer, no. 7, and was assisted by Kelsey Smith, no. 23 and Rebecca Condie, no. 24. After the fourth goal, JMU decided to call the only time out of the game.
With four goals on the board, ODU could have given a little less effort and been fine. Instead, the Lady Monarchs pushed even harder and ran circles around JMU. The fifth goal was scored by Longacre, and assisted by Smither, no. 23 and Condie, with seven and a half minutes left in the game. The final goal was scored by Batten, with an assist by Kirk with 3:26 left in the game.
The statistics say it all. ODU had 17 total shots on goal and five corners, while JMU had one shot on goal and no corners. ODU field hockey pushes and drives as hard, if not harder than anybody, and that is why the Monarchs are the number one seed.
Photography By Binh Dong
