THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Two years ago, Penn State stopped the Old Dominion University field hockey team's NCAA-record, 66-game winning streak. After that, the Nittany Lions took two of their next three against the Lady Monarchs.
But Monday was payback time as the third-ranked Lady Monarchs opened their season by blasting Penn State, 7-0, at Foreman Field.
It was the largest margin of defeat ever for 10th-ranked Penn State (0-2), which fell, 6-0, to North Carolina on Sunday.
``We haven't ever lost like this,'' Penn State coach Char Morett said. ``But right now her (ODU coach Beth Anders) kids are a little more committed than we are. We have a strong nucleus of freshmen and we're trying to find the right positions.''
The Lady Monarchs couldn't seem to find the right position of the goal in the first half, but still managed a 2-0 lead before intermission. After missing five corner attempts, ODU finally scored when Sarah Augustine tapped in a rebounded shot by Heather Hess with 9:44 remaining in the first half.
Danielle Chellew, who finished with three goals for the day, capped the first-half scoring with 1:10 remaining with a blast past Penn State keeper Shelly Meister.
``We had a hard time getting on the scoreboard,'' Anders said. ``We had a little trouble penetrating. We just had to stay on it and sooner or later it would go in.''
In the second half, the scoring surge couldn't have come quicker.
The Lady Monarchs netted five goals, two in the matter of a minute, to put Penn State away.
At the 30:31 mark, Meister cleared a corner attempt only to have Renee Houser drive the ball by her into the center of the net to make it 3-0. Three minutes later, Chellew connected on a corner for her second goal, assisted by Sam Salvia.
The Nittany Lions threatened at the 23:56 mark with a series of jabs at the goal, but couldn't get anything past Lady Monarchs keeper Kim Decker.
ODU, which outshot Penn State, 35-11, went on the attack again with 14:51 left to play when Augustine and Heather Eastburn hooked up for a shot just out of Meister's reach.
``We just focused on the things we had to do,'' Chellew said. ``At the beginning we weren't getting our shots on. We just had to be confident in our defense and get the ball in.''
Chellew scored her final goal and Salvia picked up another assist at the 8:05 mark when ODU got the best of Meister on a corner. Kelly Driscoll capped the Lady Monarchs' scoring 1:04 later when she beat her defender and brought Meister out of goal.
``They're young,'' said Anders of the Nittany Lions. ``I never think the scoring indicates anything.''
ODU will host defending NCAA champion James Madison in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo on page C1]
OLD DOMINION BLANKS PENN STATE
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Old Dominion's Heather Eastburn flips a pass over outstretched Penn
State goaltender Shelly Meister to a teammate waiting in front of
the Nittany Lions' goal. The Lady Monarchs blasted Penn State, 7-0.
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by CNB