ODU Field Hockey (5-4 / 1-1 Big East) suffered a pair of overtime road losses over the week. Dropping a 1-0 contest against Temple and a 2-1 decision against VCU.
“It was a tough weekend where we let 2 games slip away from us. We will evaluate everything that happened this weekend, and be ready to perform against Providence next week.” Said ODU Head Coach Andrew Griffiths.
The Monarchs look to get back in the win column on Friday when they host Providence at 1pm in Norfolk.
Old Dominion has struggled to capitalize on penalty corners this season and over the weekend those struggles came to a head. Over the two game span, ODU had 17 penalty corners but only turned one of those into a goal. That’s a tough conversion rate in any stretch, but may sting a little more when they happen in overtime losses.
“We had plenty of chances to score and could not execute, for the second game in a row.” said Griffiths.
Against Temple on Friday, the Monarchs came out a bit sluggish but kept the action relatively even. ODU’s defense stepped up early, holding off two penalty corners with Suus Broers making a terrific double save on the second.
In the second half, Old Dominion controlled play but could not find the back of the net. “The shot statistics are misleading. We completely controlled the second half with our press, and the play was almost entirely up in their end. In terms of attacking, attacks into the 25 and circle were about 3-1 in our favor, but we didn’t turn these into enough corners or clear scoring chances.” said Griffiths.
Temple’s Myrthe Schuilenberg finally broke the scoreless tie about 4 minutes into overtime, securing the victory. The Owls are a team on the rise in the Big East and they showed it on Friday. “Temple played hard, aggressively, and they are a good team, which we had prepared for.” Griffiths added.
Sunday in Richmond, the Monarchs faced a similar issue executing their offense.
The Rams got on the board early in the second quarter, converting one of their five first half shots. ODU had eight shots and eight penalty corners in the first half but just couldn’t convert.
In the third quarter, the Monarchs broke through and tied the game. Serena Langendoen fired a shot from a penalty corner that was assisted by Frederique Zandbergen. The freshman defender now has 5 goals on the season, most of them coming on the penalty corner.
After a scoreless first overtime period, VCU scored the game winning goal halfway into the second overtime. The Rams were awarded a pair of penalty corners, their first shot was saved by Broers, but the second found its way through.
“Well that was a very poor game of hockey overall. The game became very vertical because of the surface so it was a game of bounces and deflections. Neither team could string passes together on the turf.” said ODU Head Coach Andrew Griffiths.
“However, we were not tough enough again mentally. We will need to make some changes in our personnel, roles, and also how we play and compete before our conference game on Friday.” Griffiths added.
ODU will need to adjust quickly this week before facing off with Providence Friday at 1pm. Head over to LR Hill to catch the game live and support the Monarchs.