Old Dominion Wins 5-4 on PKs to Advance to NCAA Second Round
Written By: Jake Ullrich
Assistant Sports Editor
Photo Credit: ODUsports.com
Most times, goalkeepers make their names in penalty kick shootouts by making a decisive save. They come up big with a save or two to ensure a victory for their team. Well, Victor Francoz had a bit more of an impact Saturday night. Not only did he save the last penalty kick, clinching a victory for the Monarchs, he also scored the first kick of the night.
“I told the coach I really wanted to take [a penalty kick] the whole year,” Francoz said. “But today, when he told me I got to kick it first I was like ‘I don’t know if I really want to take it’
“But I had to do it and I stepped up and scored.”
Francoz’s heroics, along with exceptional defending from a somewhat questionable backline of late, guaranteed the Monarchs’ a spot in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Monarchs made all five of their penalties, a fantastic statistic judging how rare it is for a team to shoot 100% from the spot, while Liberty made their first four, only to have Francoz save the fifth.
The game may have lacked any goals, the full time score was 0-0, but it certainly didn’t lack excitement. Old Dominion peppered Liberty’s goalkeeper Scott Sutarik with shots while the Flames created multiple opportunities on the break.
The play of the defense was superb, a welcome change to the team that had allowed ten goals in its previous five games.
“It was great to get back to basics and show everyone that we can be the quality defensive team we know we can be,” captain Tommy Webb said.
Coach Alan Dawson made one change in his normal starting line up, moving Jason Gaylord to left back and bringing in freshman Skylar Hagan into the center of midfield.
“We wanted to get back to how we were playing earlier in the year, which was a good tempo, good rhythm,” coach Dawson said of the change. “We felt like we lost that a little bit. We felt like now that we’re in the NCAA’s, we can open up a little bit and go play.”
Gaylord had performed excellently in the center of midfield, adding a bit of bite to the skill players surrounding him. Bringing in Hagan added yet another good passer and above average defender into the mix, allowing Gaylord to move back to his usual left back spot.
Hagan performed excellently in the game, playing the entire 110 minutes and was rarely caught in possession or out of position. He defended well and shielded the back four admirably all game.
The game started out very defensively, as expected in an elimination NCAA game. Both teams ventured forward slowly, ensuring not to make any mistakes in the back that could allow for a cheap goal.
As the game went on, the Monarchs began to dominate possession and create more chances. Tim Hopkinson combined brilliantly with Chris Harmon to create what seemed to be an easy goal. Hopkinson took a touch around the goalkeeper and was only denied by a sliding Liberty defender.
After Hopkinson hit the post in the 32 minute, sophomore Alex Vaughn had a shot cleared off the line by another Liberty defender after a scramble in the penalty box. The Monarchs outshot the Flames 14-3 in the first half, but were unable to find the back of the net.
“The first half was good. The tempo was good and we broke them down quite a bit,” Dawson said. “It wasn’t easy, they were totally committed. Their goalkeeper had a good night and it could have gone their way in the end.”
The second half saw more of the same, Old Dominion seeing much more of the ball and trying to engineer chances. The Flames were happy to play with ten men behind the ball and try to score on a quick counter attack.
It was a nervy final 10 minutes for both teams. The Flames had clear speed up top and on two separate occasions defenders Ryan Oakes and Alex DeJohn made superb tackles to deny any shot on goal.
As the game reached overtime and inched closer to full time, it was clear penalties were on both teams mind. When the whistle finally blew at the end of the second overtime, it was decided this game would be settled from 12 yards out.
“[I didn’t tell the team] anything real special,” coach Dawson said. “Keep your composure. Take a deep breath. A lot of them were very excited after the game and we told them to relax a little bit. Step up like you do it in practice.”
As Francoz stepped up to take the first penalty kick, there was a bit of shock sent around the stadium. It isn’t everyday a goalkeeper takes a penalty all shoot out, let alone the first. However, all was put to rest when Francoz put the ball perfectly into the bottom right corner.
Coach Dawson later said he chose Francoz to go first so he wouldn’t have to think about his shot throughout the shootout.
After Francoz, Chris Harmon, Jordan LeBlanc, Tim Hopkinson and finally Yannick Smith all stepped up to score their penalties.
Francoz thought he had made the crucial save on the fourth penalty, but the ball had just slipped under him and into the net.
“When we went to penalties I knew it was like 50/50 chance,” Francoz said. “But I knew we had great takers. The fourth one was very tough; it went right under my rib. So I just tried to do my best and save the other one.”
Francoz certainly did his best when he dove to his right and clinched the victory for the Monarchs. The team erupted off the benches and surrounded Francoz in celebration.
The Monarchs rebounded from a devastating CAA Final loss Sunday to clinch a trip to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers Sunday afternoon.
