NORFOLK, Va. - Head coach of the Old Dominion University women's lacrosse team Sue Stahl announced the 2009 schedule today, headlined by three games at home against teams ranked in the Final IWLCA Top 20 last season. ODU will boast a new home venue, the Powhatan Sports Complex, and will welcome in eight teams including #6 Virginia, #16 George Mason, and #20 William & Mary.

Old Dominion will start the 2009 season opening their new field with a pair of home games against American University and the University of Richmond on February 28 and March 10 respectively. ODU defeated American in Washington D.C. to open the 2008 season and will welcome in the Eagles to open the 2009 season as well. Richmond returns to the schedule after the two did not match up for the first time in ODU program history. The all-time series favors ODU, 22-12.

The Lady Monarchs will then hit the road for three straight, with a game at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) on March 13, a trip to Chapel Hill to face the #9 Tarheels on March 18, and a return of the home-and-home series against St. Joseph's on March 21. ODU dropped both UMBC and St. Joe's last year en route to the best start in school history. ODU is still seeking its first victory over North Carolina in five meetings with the ACC foe.

The non-conference slate will finish up with home games against Longwood and Virginia sandwiching a trip to Blacksburg to face the Hokies of Virginia Tech. ODU will play the Lancers on March 25, then Tech on March 28 and close out the non-league games against #6 Virginia. It will be the first all-time matchup against Longwood and just the third against the Hokies for ODU, while the Cavaliers will come to Norfolk for the 32nd matchup between the two schools.

The continuously improving Colonial Athletic Association boasts three ranked teams in the final IWLCA poll last season, and ODU will face two of them in the first three league games. After traveling to Delaware on April 3, the Lady Monarchs will face 2008 CAA Champion Towson on the road, then entertain #16 George Mason on April 10. ODU then will play the Dukes of James Madison on Sunday, April 12, for the final road game of the regular season.

The Lady Monarchs will close the regular season with three straight at home against Hofstra, Drexel and #20 William & Mary. The final CAA games come on April 17, 19 and 23 respectively. The CAA Tournament will be held at the highest seed on April 30 and May 2.

The ODU team graduated just four seniors from last year's squad and will return the top three leading scorers from a year ago: senior Kelly Kimener (19g, 13a, 32pts), junior Ashley Kellogg (23g, 6a, 29pts) and senior Jessica Noone (16g, 10a, 26pts). The team will also return Brittany Washko, team leader in groundballs (30) and caused turnovers (21) with seniors Erica Erb and Lindsey Belle holding down the defensive end of the field. ODU finished the 2008 season with a 4-9 overall record.

Date        Day           Opponent           Time     Site
Feb. 28     Saturday      American          1:00 pm   Home
 
March 10    Tuesday       Richmond          7:00 pm   Home
March 13    Friday        UMBC              4:00 pm   Away
March 18    Wednesday     UNC               5:00 pm   Away
March 21    Saturday      St. Joseph's     12:00 pm   Away
March 25    Wednesday     Longwood          4:00 pm   Home
March 28    Saturday      Virginia Tech     1:00 pm   Away
 
April 1     Wednesday     UVA               3:00 pm   Home
April 3     Friday        Delaware          3:00 pm   Away
April 5     Sunday        Towson            1:00 pm   Away
April 10    Friday        George Mason      4:00 pm   Home
April 12    Sunday        JMU               1:00 pm   Away
April 17    Friday        Hofstra           4:00 pm   Home
April 19    Sunday        Drexel            1:00 pm   Home
April 23    Thursday      William & Mary    7:00 pm   Home
April 25    Saturday      ODU Alumni Game   1:00 pm   Home
 
April 30 &  Thurs., Sat.  CAA Tournament      TBA      TBA
May 2nd

2008-11-18