The Lady Monarchs fought in another closely contested match against William & Mary on Sunday at 6 p.m. keeping their unbeaten streak alive via a draw. This makes their second consecutive draw on the season and against Virginia talent.
“Tonight was competitive from start to finish. Credit to William &Mary; they came out strong and although we had the better chances, I felt they were better than us in the first half,” said ODU head coach Angie Hind. “Second half, I was pleased with how we started and even after they went ahead, I felt we were much more solid and had greater possession and momentum. The response was fantastic from the team to score so soon after we went down and that shows real character.”
The first half of play between teams was evenly matched. Both sides struggled to get the ball out of the midfield and set up a proper offense or possession with plenty of punts by the William & Mary goalie.
Midfielders Ece Turkoglu and Gry Boe Thyrsøe, natives of Turkey and Denmark respectively, both had quality performances that day as they seemed to be everywhere all the time.
ODU had several scoring opportunities in the first half, graduate student Megan Watts ended a quality possession with a shot that looked promising but flew just over the crossbar in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, freshman Aleigha Ardt was fouled just barely outside of the box, leading to a free kick close to the goal. Ardt went for broke, hooking a ball into the bottom left corner which was unfortunately saved by the goalkeeper. A minute and a half later, Turkoglu rocketed a second chance shot after a cleared corner towards goal, which was saved again by the Tribe keeper.
At the half, the score still stood 0-0, as neither team could dig in and gain control to turn the tides in their favor.
In the second half, the Tribe was able to gain the upper hand as they scored first in the 61st minute making the contest 1-0. The Lady Monarchs were quick to respond though, as graduate forward Anna Tørsløv took matters into her own hands. After being fed the ball on the run about ten yards outside the box, Tørsløv got past W&M’s final line and scored, bringing the match even at 1-1 in the 65th minute.
The game became a power grab as the teams were again tied, with each trying to gain the advantage that would let them go home and sing the famed Queen song.
Both teams had some close calls in the late minutes. The Lady Monarchs were fortunate to have a few shots by the Tribe fly high and/or wide. Conversely, the Tribe was extremely fortunate as a shot by freshman Riley Mullen bounced off the crossbar and out of danger in the 87th minute.
When full time was reached, the Lady Monarchs and Tribe remained even, both teams physically tired from a closely contested match.
ODU women’s soccer get a well-deserved break as they do not play a weeknight game this coming week. Their next match will be against High Point this coming Sunday at 4 p.m. in the 757. Following this, the Lady Monarchs start Sun Belt play and make their way to Conway, S.C., to take on the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina.
