Dukes tripped up by Monarchs at home
No. 3 ODU beats No. 17 JMU in CAA opener
By Brian Hansen, sports editor
Posted on October 2, 2006

A late goal spoiled the JMU women’s field hockey team’s Colonial Athletic Association opener Friday.

Nicolien van Nispen scored with just 7:31 remaining on the clock off a penalty corner to give No. 3 Old Dominion University a 1-0 win over the 17th-ranked JMU at the JMU Field Hockey Complex.

“We worked all week on our defensive play,” JMU coach Antoinette Lucas said. “We needed to refocus on that. This was the first time this season that our team stepped up defensively and made the big saves when we needed to.”

The Dukes needed to be on their toes defensively from the beginning as the Monarchs came out firing. Within the first 10 minutes, ODU had several shots and was awarded three penalty corners. But the JMU defensive held ODU scoreless in the first half.

“It was part of our game plan to sit back initially and get a feel for the game,” Lucas said. “Unfortunately, it did throw us off a little offensively.”

About 10 minutes into the game, Madison began to sustain a little offense and put the Monarchs back on their heels. Junior defender Lauren Stefaniak had two good shots off penalty corners, but JMU was unable to penetrate the Monarch defense.

“Once we got the kids into the flow of the game and running around a bit, I think we played much better,” Lucas said.

The game remained scoreless at the half despite ODU outshooting the Dukes 10-2 and having the edge in penalty corners, 7-2.

In the second half, play hung mostly in the JMU end. The Monarchs finally broke the scoreless tie when they were awarded a penalty corner late in the second half. Midfielder Dana Sensenig started the corner passing it to freshman the corner passing it to freshman Titia Beek, who set up van Nispen for the drive past JMU freshman goalie Kelsey Cutchins. Both Beek and Sensenig received assists on the play.

Cutchins anchored the Dukes’ defense providing five saves in just her third start of the year.

“Our keeper had a very good game,” Lucas said. “She’s a freshman, but she stepped and made the key saves when we needed them.”

For the day, the Monarchs out-shot the Dukes 14-2 and had the advantage on penalty corners 10-2.

The loss drops the Dukes (6-5) to 0-1 in the CAA. ODU (10-1) improved to 2-0 in conference.