Old Dominion Field Hockey faced off with two top ten teams over the weekend, falling to #5 Duke 2-0 on Friday and dropping a tightly contested 2-1 game with #6 Ohio State Sunday afternoon. The Monarchs open Big East play on Friday at 3pm when #11 Liberty comes to L.R. Hill.
There’s no love lost between ODU and Liberty. The Flames eliminated the Monarchs from the Big East tournament in 2022 on the way to the conference title. ODU returned the favor in 2023, defeating LU in the championship game. In both seasons, the team that won the regular season matchup, lost in the postseason.
Liberty is 4-1 so far this season with their lone loss coming to #3 Virginia 2-1. The Flames rebounded from the loss with a 5-0 win over William and Mary along with a 1-0 victory over #5 Duke 1-0. The Monarchs will be their first action against a ranked team on the road. If you’re looking for an excuse to cut out of work early on Friday, getting to L.R. Hill for this matchup is a good one.
Duke
ODU is celebrating their 50th season of Field Hockey this year and also had the official ribbon cutting ceremony for their new playing field.
ODU played very aggressively against Duke in the first half, pushing the ball up the field quickly and forcing the Blue Devils to play on their heels with only one shot in the first half. The defense was suffocating and the Monarchs swarmed any attack attempts.
Early in the second half, Old Dominion was moving out of their defensive end to attack when disaster struck. Two Monarchs slipped on the turf, creating a breakaway for the Blue Devils and Charlie von Oirschot found teammate Alaina McVeigh who fired a shot past Suus Broers.
ODU responded well, ramping up their attack and building momentum in the offensive zone. They just couldn’t get one into the cage. With just under 10 minutes to go, Duke was awarded a penalty stroke during a corner and converted, pushing the advantage to 2-0.
The Monarchs were outshot 8-6 but held a 4-2 edge in penalty corners. “We had four corners and just didn’t execute,” said Head Coach Andrew Griffiths, “and they executed one of theirs. “And then we had a player slip. It was a mistake and that’s going to happen.”
Ohio State
Sunday was another defensive battle with neither team getting on the board in the first half. The Buckeyes finally broke through the Monarch defense in the final minute of the 3rd quarter.
OSU extended the advantage to 2-0 midway through the fourth quarter following a penalty corner. Broers saved the first shot but the Buckeyes corralled the rebound and got a needed insurance goal.
Old Dominion didn’t go away quietly though. With just over three minutes to play, Frederique Zandbergen fired one past the keeper after ODU was awarded a penalty corner. Serena Langendoen and Sanci Molkenboer set Zandbergen up for the goal.
The Monarchs made a few more pushes down the stretch, but the offense could not get set up for a clean shot on goal.
It’s a tough run of games for ODU with three consecutive ranked opponents, but that’s nothing new for this program. They consistently play the best of the best and the experience gained will help them once again in Big East play.