THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 30, 1996 TAG: 9609300143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 37 lines
The rain eventually stopped at Foreman Field Sunday, but the Maryland Terrapins didn't.
The Terrapins defeated No. 4 Old Dominion 1-0 and in the process upset the Lady Monarchs' chances at earning the top ranking in the upcoming national field hockey poll.
``I was really pleased with my team's effort,'' Maryland coach Missy Meharg said. ``All I want is for this team to believe they can compete with any team in the country.''
Which they did. Less than 24 hours after North Carolina routed Maryland 5-2, the 13th-ranked Terrapins (5-3) recovered quickly against Old Dominion, outshooting the Lady Monarchs 14-9 and outcornering ODU 7-2.
The only goal of the game was scored by junior forward Lynsey McVicker, who slapped the ball in with 6:28 left in the game.
The Lady Monarchs made a number of late charges - even going so far as to pull goalkeeper Jamie Hill with 6:06 remaining - but after Ashleigh Miller's last-second shot was stopped, the visitors' bench exploded as a second team in the Top Five fell to the Terrapins - Maryland beat No. 3 Iowa 2-1 last week.
``They (Maryland) played hard today, and so did we,'' ODU coach Beth Anders said. ``Realistically, it's almost impossible to go undefeated with our schedule, and nobody likes to lose, but we have to go on.''
The Lady Monarchs (9-1) will be going on to a weekend series with Temple and Connecticut. Both are ranked in the top 20 and will likely remain so when the new poll is released.
``We look at this experience as a positive,'' said Anders. ``They (the Lady Monarchs) tried their best today, learned from it, and hopefully if they are in this situation again they'll know what to do.
``There was no funeral about this game.'' by CNB