Marlins Fall in ODAC Opener to Shenandoah

WINCHESTER, Va. -- Shenandoah University scored the first five goals of the contest Saturday afternoon, holding on to defeat the Virginia Wesleyan College field hockey team 5-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) opener for both teams.

It looked like Shenandoah could run away with the contest early on with two goals in the first eight minutes as Elizabeth Pardo found Kayla Alderman at the 6:17 mark before Katelyn Curtis scored an unassisted tally at 7:47.

The Hornets tallied three more scores in the first half as Morgan Payne, Kelani Bailey, and Tori Finney all found the back of the cage before the Marlins fought back.

Jenna Serna collected her first assist on the year as Taylor Marshall finished off the score at the 34:12 mark to take the 5-1 deficit into halftime.

Virginia Wesleyan's defense proved to be a stalwart in the second half, keeping Shenandoah (3-4/1-0 ODAC) from scoring despite taking 10 shots. For the game, Shenandoah managed 22 shots but Skye Swain made three saves for VWC. Jessica Brown made one stop for the Hornets.

Virginia Wesleyan (1-7/0-1) travels to Sweet Briar College Tuesday for a non-conference matchup at 4 p.m.