Nov. 17, 2000

NORFOLK, VA. - Old Dominion University senior midfielder Marina DiGiacomo (Mendoza, Argentina) scored an NCAA record tying four goals to lead the Lady Monarchs (24-1) to a 6-0 victory over Wake Forest (18-4) in an NCAA semi-final game. Old Dominion advances to the National Championship game against the winner of the Maryland/North Carolina contest.

This will be Old Dominion's 12th trip to the NCAA Finals. The Lady Monarchs have won eight, the last being in 1998.

DiGiacomo, the nation's leading scorer and all-time scorer put Old Dominion on the board first with 18:45 left in the first half. With 1:34 left in the half she scored off a corner on an assist from Marjolijn van der Sommen (Leiden, Netherlands) and Adrienne Yoder(Coopersburg, Pa.) to the Lady Monarchs a 2-0 halftime lead. Yoder finished with four assists on the day.

In the second half DiGiacomo and junior Laura Steadman (Va. Beach, Va.) scored two goals each. The six goals by Old Dominion is a new NCAA tournament semi-final record and the four goals by DiGiacomo ties the NCAA Tournament mark set by Macha van der Vaart (ODU '93) in 1992.

Old Dominion outshot Wake Forest, 25-3 and recorded their 11th shutout of the season.

      SCORING SUMMARY
      WF   0-0-0
      ODU 2-4-6

      18:45 ODU Marina DiGiacomo
      1:34   ODU Marina DiGiacomo from Marjolijn van der Sommen & Adrienne
      Yoder
      Second Half
      32:02 ODU Marina GiGiacomo from van der Sommen & Yoder
      28:14 ODU Laura Steadman from Adrienne Yoder
      17:09 ODU Laura Steadman from Tiffany Snow
      14:37 ODU Marina DiGiacomo from Yoder and van der Sommen

      Shots on Goal: ODU (25), Wake Forest (3)
      Corners: ODU (8), Wake Forest (2)
      Goal Saves: ODU -Marybeth Freeman (1), Wake Forest - Jamie Tressler
      (12)

COACHES QUOTES

Wake Forest Head Coach Jennifer Averill:

"It was a frustrating way to end the season. The speed and execution of ODU was outstanding, but we seem to bring that out in a lot of our opponents this season."

"As far as ODU's pressure, just because you know what their going to do doesn't mean you can stop it."

Old Dominion Head Coach Beth Anders

"It's another thrill to go back to the finals. I thought we played hard and with our hearts. If you play with your heart, the rest will take care of itself."

Anders About the finals:
"We have some goals. We need to do things simple and we need to do them all of the time. That's what we did today."

ODU's Marina DiGiacomo
"We came out like we have all season. We don't have the most skill in the nation , but we have the most heart."

ODU's Laura Steadman about the Finals:
"One of the most important things is to have fun, but don't take it for granted."

GAME 2

NORTH CAROLINA TOPS MARYLAND, 4-1,
WILL TAKE ON OLD DOMINION IN CHAMPIONSHIP

NORFOLK, VA-- Second-seeded North Carolina bumped off defending national champion and third-seeded Maryland, 4-1, in the national championship semifinal round of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament Friday evening at Foreman Field on the campus of Old Dominion University. With the win, the Tar Heels improved to 20-3 while the Terps end the season at 19-4. North Carolina will take on Old Dominion, winners of the first game of the night, 6-0 over Wake Forest.

Maryland struck for first blood on a Carissa Messimer (Mountaintop, Pa.) goal, assisted by Caroline Walter (Reilingen, Germany). North Carolina tied the game at one on a Meredith Keller (Glenville, Del.) and took the lead going into the half with a Kristen McCann (Macungie, Pa.) score. Both players would score again in the second half to seal the victory.

"We're delighted and thrilled to be back in the championship game," said UNC coach Karen Shelton. "We started out tentative, but we came back against a good Maryland team."

North Carolina and Old Dominion will meet in the national championship game Sunday at 2 pm at Foreman Field. This will be the fifth time that the two schools are meeting to decide the national champion.

      SCORING SUMMARY
      UNC       2    2         4
      UM        1    0         1


      UM   24:56     Carissa Messimer (Caroline Walter)
      UNC  8:36 Meredith Keller (Carrie Lingo)
      UNC  3:08 Kristen McCann

      UNC  13:28     Kristen McCann (Jana Toepel)
      UNC  9:57 Meredith Keller


      SHOTS ON GOAL
      UNC(7)
      UM(14)
      PENALTY CORNERS
      UNC(3)
      UM(9)

      GOALKEEPER SAVES
      UNC(9) - Amy Tran(9)
      UM(2) - Ashley Hohnstine(2)

Post-game Quotes

Maryland head coach Missy Meharg:

"I think it must have been an exciting game to watch." "Carolina was more opportunistic today...I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

On Maryland's corner strategy:
"We felt confident on our corner options...the first one was nice, but the rest didn't fall."

Maryland's Carla Tagliente:
"It's a sad time right now, particularly for the 5 or 6 seniors on this team." "I've had a lot of fun in the last four years, and I'm going to miss that."

North Carolina head coach Karen Shelton:
"We're delighted and thrilled to be back in the championship game." " We started out tentative, but we came back against a good Maryland team."

On ODU:
"They are an outstanding team. They are the team that sets the benchmark, and we love to play them. They bring out the best in us."

"They're solid top to bottom. They overwhelmed Wake Forest and they have the ability to do that with any team."