NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Winning conference titles is something the Old Dominion Women's Soccer team is getting used to and the Monarchs don't plan on slowing down any time soon.
ODU won the Conference USA title in 2021, then burst onto the scene its first year in the Sun Belt by claiming that league crown last season. This year the silver and blue enter every match with a target on their backs, something they feel from their opponents, but embrace.
"We really felt when we started conference play, 'wow, these guys are out to get us for real,'" pointed out Monachs' head coach Angie Hind. "I think we've just learned to cope with that and learned that every game in our conference is highly competitive."
"We feel that on the field a lot," added senior midfielder Ece Turkoglu. "Every team we play, they come here or we go there, and they're always ready to step up."
The Monarchs have been doing it with defense. Entering Thursday, Old Dominion led the country in goals against average (.286), save percentage (.902) and ranked second in shutout percentage (.714). Junior goalkeeper Emily Bredek also led the nation in goals against average (.291).
"You kind of just got to exude confidence, like a fake it 'til you make it kind of thing, " Bredek laughed of being the only player between the ball and the goal. "I guess just exuding the confidence."
"For us to sit number one in the nation right now for the past few weeks defensively doesn't happen just because you have one good player," Hind noted. "It happens because you have a team of individuals who are willing to work."
Old Dominion has been scoring as well. Entering Thursday, the Monarchs were sixth in the Sun Belt Conference with 1.571 goals per game. Both units performing at a high level makes the other's job easier.
"If you're a team who can trust each other defensively, it gives you a platform and it gives you confidence to go play," Hind said. "That's a standard for what we do. It's a culture. It sounds very simple, but we defend to get the ball back to go on attack."
Will it all add up to a third straight conference crown? We'll know come November 5. ODU has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons with their league titles and maybe this year they can get back and make some noise.
"We kind of just take the Sun Belt first and then see where we can go from there," Bredek said.
"We know and our players know that we can compete at that level," added Hind. "We don't want to be a team that challenges to win the conference every year, makes the NCAA [Tournament] and we're delighted with that. We want to go in there to prove ourselves and go a little bit further."
Old Dominion fell to Texas State on Thursday night, 2-1. The Monarchs host Georgia State on Sunday in their final home match before their regular season finale at Louisiana-Monroe next Thursday.
