Field hockey upsets No. 11 ODU Monarchs
Field Hockey won two games last weekend against conference rivals University of Richmond and nationally-ranked Old Dominion University to extend its winning streak to four games. Photo by Shayla Bailey
Andy Riddler
Contributing Writer
The VCU Field Hockey team won a pair of games over the weekend, defeating arch-rival University of Richmond at Cary Street Field and upsetting No. 11 Old Dominion University in Norfolk. The Rams will spend this coming weekend traveling to St. Francis College on Sept. 28 and to Bucknell University on Sept. 30.
Old Dominion
VCU conquered the No.11 Monarchs of Old Dominion University 3-2 in a back-and-forth affair Sunday, Sept. 23 in Norfolk, giving VCU its fourth win in a row.
Graduate midfielder Shannon Pereira — who also recorded an assist — started the scoring with a goal off a rebound following a shot by sophomore midfielder Svea Sturm almost 12 minutes into the game.
Old Dominion answered with a goal in the 27th minute from junior forward Erin Huffman, assisted by Alexandria Brewer, leading into halftime with the score tied.
Senior forward Emily McNamara gave VCU its lead back two minutes into the second half with a shot to the bottom left corner of the net — her 16th goal of the season.
The Monarchs responded again, this time with a goal by Rebecca Birch, assisted by Alexandria Brewer and Marlee McClendon, off a penalty corner at the 55-minute mark.
Freshman defender Litiana Field stepped in as a hero for VCU, scoring the game-winning goal — assisted by sophomore midfielder Maite Sturm — off a penalty corner to give the Rams a 3-2 lead with 12 minutes left to play.
VCU’s defense held Old Dominion without a shot on-goal for the rest of the game to claim its first victory over a nationally-ranked team since 2009.
Richmond
The Black and Gold defeated the Richmond Spiders Sept. 21 by a final score of 7-2 at Cary Street Field. VCU scored five unanswered goals to pull away for its third straight win.
Pereira started scoring early for VCU, notching a goal less than two minutes into the game on an assist from Litiana Field. Field finished the game with three assists.
Scoring off a penalty corner near the six-minute mark, McNamara extended the lead for the Rams. She finished with three goals and an assist, marking her third consecutive game with a hat trick.
After the Spiders clawed back into the game with two goals of their own, the Rams regained their two-goal lead with tallies by Maite Sturm and McNamara before the end of the first half. Maite Sturm finished with two goals in the win over Richmond.
Sophomore defender Emily van Hijfte added a goal and an assist in the second half to help cap off the scoring for VCU.
VCU recorded 31 shots, 15 of which were on goal. Richmond finished with ten shots, and six on goal.
