DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711230154

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: STORRS, CONN.                     LENGTH:   40 lines

MOTIVATION NO PROBLEM FOR ODU, UNC TODAY TITLE, FIELD HOCKEY SUPREMACY ON LINE.

The Old Dominion field hockey team shouldn't have any trouble getting motivated for today's 1 p.m. NCAA Division I national championship at the University of Connecticut.

There are simply too many reasons for wanting to beat the University of North Carolina.

For years, the two have been the dominating programs in the country. And though ODU (22-2) has captured a record seven national titles, the two-time defending champion Tar Heels (19-3) are the current queens of the hill.

Naturally, ODU wants to take that title back.

The Lady Monarchs are the only team to three-peat - having won three in a row twice, from 1982-1984 and again from 1990-1992 - and want to make sure the Tar Heels don't join them.

The great rivalry between the two programs gets its roots from those years of ODU's second three-peat.

North Carolina won the national title in 1989, defeating ODU in the title game. When ODU was three-peating, it had to defeat Carolina twice to do so.

Top it all off with the fact that today's meeting is the rubber game - ODU winning 5-4 in overtime the first time around and North Carolina taking a 2-1 victory in the regular-season finale.

``We don't care who the opponent is,'' said junior defender Mimi Smith - a former Ocean Lakes and Green Run standout. ``It doesn't matter.

``The only thing that matters is how we play.''

When ODU is on, the going is definitely tough for opponents. The Lady Monarchs have outscored opponents 152-25 this season. But when ODU lets down, the opposition has been able to capitalize - like in Friday's 3-2 semifinal victory over Virginia. ODU was up 3-0 in the first half and let the Cavaliers slip back into it.

``These are the games you dream of,'' ODU coach Beth Anders said. ``We know it going onto the field that each team is going to play the best they can.''

If they do, there will be no need to look to the past for motivation.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu