The Old Dominion University lacrosse team (1-3) clinched their first victory of the season with an 8-7 win against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon. With only 96 seconds left in the game, senior Olivia Tanneberger scored the winning goal. The Lady Monarchs celebrated their first victory of the season, holding off the Rams.
In the opening quarter, VCU scored the first goal of the match four minutes into the game. However, graduate Lilly Siskind managed to level the score with her goal, assisted by Sydney Taylor, with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. VCU then scored another goal to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Old Dominion quickly took the lead in the second quarter as Siskind scored two goals in the first four minutes. VCU responded with a goal, tying the game at three, but Siskind’s third goal of the game came at the 5:19 mark, giving the Lady Monarchs a 4-3 lead at halftime.
To begin the second half, VCU tied the game at four, but graduate Emma Arnold scored two consecutive goals, giving ODU a 6-4 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter. They held onto their two-goal lead going into the final quarter of the game.
VCU started the final quarter with a goal of their own to cut into the Lady Monarchs’ lead, but freshman Megan Hopfensperger responded with her second goal of the year, putting ODU back up by two. The Rams took advantage of being a man-up and then scored two consecutive goals to tie the game with seven minutes left to play.
As the clock ticked down under the two-minute mark, the competition was tight, and ODU had to score the game-winner. Taylor set up the game-winning goal by finding Tanneberger cutting towards the cage. Tanneberger then scored with a shot into the top left corner, giving ODU the late lead with 96 seconds remaining. The Lady Monarchs held on and secured their first win of the 2024 season.
Siskind led the way for Old Dominion, scoring three goals and assisting on two more. Senior goalkeeper Jenna Peccia had a good afternoon as well, making seven saves on the day, while also causing three turnovers and scooping up eight ground balls.
Old Dominion’s next game is on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m., where they will face Longwood University (0-1) in Farmville, VA.
