No contest this time: ODU field hockey team rolls

NORFOLK

Old Dominion's field hockey team battled to a tight victory at Ohio State earlier this season.

The Lady Monarchs made sure the Buckeyes didn't test them in the first round of the NCAA tournament, scoring two early goals and cruising to a 5-0 win Saturday at the Powhatan Sports Complex.

Second-seeded Old Dominion (21-2) will host Duke (14-7), a 5-0 winner over Stanford, at 2 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

Ohio State (12-9) had lost 2-0 to ODU on Sept. 11.

"Today, Old Dominion played like a national championship team," Ohio State coach Anne Wilkinson said.

Kati Nearhouse started the scoring, tipping in a shot 2:13 into the game. Stephanie Kratzer and Lakeland High School graduate Kelsey Smither were credited with assists.

Rebecca Condie scored an unassisted goal 11:16 later, and ODU was never seriously threatened from there.

"It's really nice to go out and attack teams, hit them hard, get them on their back foot," ODU forward Emma Batten said. "Then we can continue from there."

Batten continued ODU's onslaught with a goal 20:38 in on an assist from Kathryn Kirk. Batten made it 4-0 just 15 seconds into the second half on an assist from Nearhouse.

Lydia Velzian scored ODU's final goal 47:29 in on an assist from Kirk.

Goalkeeper Devon Seifert made four saves for ODU.

Old Dominion now has eight shutouts on the season. The Lady Monarchs have outscored their opponents 90-22.

"Defense really has been a key for us," ODU coach Beth Anders said. "We get attack from our defense."

Next for the Lady Monarchs is Duke. Old Dominion won 3-2 in double overtime at Duke on Sept. 18, but lost 2-1 in overtime to the Blue Devils on Oct. 16 in Norfolk.

The winner goes to the NCAA semifinals in Louisville, Ky.

"The biggest disappointment with us against them before was that we didn't turn up on that field," Batten said. "So all we care about is turning up and fighting for a full 70 minutes."