DATE: Saturday, November 22, 1997           TAG: 9711220672

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: STORRS, CONN.                     LENGTH:   61 lines

ODU HOLDS ON TO BEAT U.VA., WILL PLAY UNC FOR NATIONAL TITLE

STORRS, Conn. - If nothing else, the Old Dominion field hockey team knows how to make things interesting.

In Friday's NCAA Division I semifinal at the University of Connecticut, the Monarchs jumped to a 3-0 lead over Virginia before nearly blowing it in a 3-2 victory.

With the narrow escape, ODU (22-2) moves on to face two-time defending national champion UNC at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Tar Heels (19-3) will be seeking to become the second team in history to three-peat. ODU won triple championships from 1982-1984 and again from 1990-1992.

If the last two meetings between ODU and UNC are any indication, the rubber game will be just as nerve-racking as Friday's semi-finals. UNC escaped with a 4-3 victory over Princeton (16-4).

In the first meeting between Sunday's combatants, ODU slipped by with a 5-4 overtime victory. UNC won the regular-season finale 2-1.

But after Friday, the Monarchs are feeling lucky just to have made it to the title game.

Virginia ``battled back tremendously,'' said ODU coach Beth Anders. ``We had a great 25 minutes in the first half, and you have to give U.Va. credit for the rest of the game.

``We just feel fortunate to be in the final and maybe we'll be able to put two halves back-to-back.''

If the Monarchs play an entire game like they did the first half against Virginia (19-3), things could be easy. If they play like they did the second half, winning a national-record eighth title will be tough.

ODU went up 1-0 10 minutes into the game when Heather Simon dived for a rebound of a teammate's shot and was able to beat Cavaliers keeper Becky Worthington to the right post.

Heather Eastburn made it 2-0 10 minutes later when she controlled a loose ball after a botched ODU penalty corner and smashed in a shot from high on the scoring circle. At that point, the Monarchs quieted the fans from Wahoosville on a nicely executed penalty-corner play. With 13:36 left in the half, Kelly Driscoll started the play from the left side, with Joey Evans stopping the incoming pass so Mimi Smith could blast a rocket off Worthington's leg.

ODU got four more penalty-corner plays in the last few minutes of the half, but failed to score.

That's when things turned as different as day and night.

``When you go down 3-0 against a team like ODU, lots of teams tend to give up,'' said Cavaliers midfielder Michelle Vizzuso. ``But nobody on our sidelines was thinking about losing.

``And I think ODU under-estimated our heart.''

Virginia came to life quickly in the second half, with Meredith Elwell scoring in less than three minutes after taking a pass from Laura Lindsay. About eight minutes later, the Cavaliers really turned on the momentum when Lorraine Vizzuso took a pass from Meredith Thorpe, who had controlled a free hit by Michelle Vizzuso, before beating ODU keeper Staci Smith to an open right side of the goal. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ODU's Heather Simon (9) and Kelly Driscoll (facing camera) rejoice

amid their teammates after the Monarchs defeated Virginia on Friday.

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