NORFOLK, Va. – After an evenly matched first half of play, Old Dominion jumped ahead early on in the second half and was able to foil a couple of quality App State chances late, in a 1-0 win for the Monarchs Friday night at the ODU Soccer Complex.
The Mountaineers (6-5-3, 3-2-2) battled till the very end, producing a couple of near-equalizers late in regulation. Trailing 1-0 in the 83
rd minute,
Stephanie Barbosa brought the ball down the far side and fed a pass to
Izzi Wood near the goalmouth, but her redirect attempt hit the far post. On the ensuing App State possession,
Olivia Simon ripped a shot towards the top of the cage that was punched over the net by Monarchs (10-1-3, 5-1-1) goalkeeper Emily Bredek, to keep the lead intact.
At the end of 90 minutes, the two teams finished even in shots with 11 apiece, while App State generated eight shots on target, compared to six for the Monarchs. Barbosa and Simon each tallied three shots on target. Barbosa's best chance came on a volley in the final minute of the opening half.
The lone goal of the match came in the 55
th minute. With ODU in possession, their initial shot attempt was blocked, but the rebound bounced across the top of the 18-yard box to an open Megan Watts, who settled the ball before firing the shot into the top right corner.
It was the lone blemish for
Kerry Eagleston, who was credited with five saves, giving her 395 in her Mountaineer career. The Mountaineer defense was stellar again, with the quartet of
Mumu Guisasola,
Skyler Walk,
Kaitlyn Little and
Shannon Studer all playing the full 90 minutes in the match.
App State will close out their home season as they host Southern Miss on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Golden Eagles are 3-2-1 in Sun Belt play this season and are next in action on Sunday against Georgia Southern.
