THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
On its thirteenth attempt, played on the thirteenth day of the month, No. 13 Iowa had nothing but good luck.
The Hawkeyes (15-7), who had never prevailed in their previous dozen games against fourth-ranked Old Dominion (17-6-1), scored a 3-2 sudden-death victory over the Monarchs in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA field hockey tournament Sunday at Foreman Field.
Kristen Holmes, a junior midfielder from Massachusetts, netted the game winner off a penalty corner 5:21 into overtime to advance her team to the Final Four next weekend at Northeastern University.
The Hawkeyes will meet top seeded North Carolina, a 5-0 winner over Boston College, in next Saturday's semifinals.
``I was so happy when it went in,'' Holmes said. ``I'm glad to know that all of our hard work has finally paid off.''
Iowa's win marks the first time in the tournament's 14-year history that a hosting higher seed has lost to a lower-seeded team in the second round.
The Hawkeyes, who sneaked into the tournament with upsets over No. 2 Northwestern and fifth-ranked Penn State to claim the Big 10's automatic berth, got on the board first with 21 seconds to go before halftime.
Diane DeMiro broke away from a field of Old Dominion defenders and found herself one-on-one with Monarch senior back Sue Dano. Dano was tripped up and Sue Callahan raced back to help out.
Callahan and DeMiro battled for position, but Callahan, unable to get between DeMiro and the goal cage, couldn't stop DeMiro as she pushed a shot toward the goal. Keeper Kim Decker, playing inside the left corner, guessed wrong as she watched DeMiro's last-second ditch find the right side of the box while Callahan fell to the ground in disbelief.
Down 1-0 in the second half, Old Dominion retaliated when Alaina Hunt converted a penalty corner at the 24:44 mark, assisted by Callahan and Karen Neiss.
``We knew we had to tie it up,'' said senior Hunt, who had missed on an earlier try. ``I was ready to attack.''
The Hawkeyes, who outshot the Monarchs, 8-4, in the second half, took advantage of three consecutive corners in less than a minute for a 2-1 lead when Holmes netted her first goal of the game after Debbie Humpage's feinted shot.
``We were playing on the defensive,'' Hunt said. ``We were back on our heels.''
With 11:48 to go in regulation, Hunt tried to help her team back on its feet with a second corner attempt. Hunt's shot was deflected, but Kelly Burch was in position to tap it in just past keeper Jessica Krochmal.
But time expired before either team could put the game away. And 10 minutes after the final buzzer of regulation, the Hawkeyes did just that.
``I give all the credit to Iowa,'' Old Dominion coach Beth Anders said. ``They came here to win the game. You don't play games in the past, you play in the present.''
Iowa coach Beth Beglin, who posted a sign that read ``0-11-1'' in the Hawkeye locker room to remind her team of its history against the Monarchs, said today's win was possibly the best in her career.
``I'm ecstatic,'' she said. ``It's been a young team that's faced a lot of adversity. That adversity has helped us today.
``We're ready for anybody. Nobody predicted we'd get here, let alone make it to the Final Four. I don't care who we play.''
In other quarterfinal action, James Madison's Carole Thate lifted a shot off a penalty corner over Penn State (13-7-2) keeper Shelly Meister with 4:10 remaining in sudden death overtime to give the Dukes a 1-0 decision over the No. 5 Nittany Lions. JMU (18-3-1) outshot Penn State, 18-9. Meister had nine saves.
The third-ranked Dukes will meet No. 2 Northwestern, a 2-1 winner over Ball State, next Saturday in the semifinals. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Old Dominion's Danielle Chellew and Iowa's Nancy McLinden converge
on the ball in Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal.
by CNB