Falling to 0-4 in Conference USA play, the Marshall women’s soccer team lost at home against the Old Dominion Monarchs Thursday, losing 3-0.

ODU, on the other hand, improved its record to 4-4-1 overall and 3-2 in Conference USA play. Marshall’s overall record fell to 2-5.

Marshall head coach Michael Swan said that the team put forward its best effort even though the results were not picturesque.

“It was a tough result,” Swan said. “I thought our players battled. We came up against a great ODU team with a great coaching staff, with experienced players who have been in these situations before.”

During pregame, the Herd honored four seniors for senior day: forward Canaan Booton, defender Abi Dropik, midfielder Laura Farrelly and defender/forward Metztli Gonzalez.

Swan said that the senior class has been nothing but professional and have handled tough circumstances.

“They’ve been great,” Swan said. “A year ago, we’re looking at the year and were getting excited about what’s happening in the fall, then COVID hits. They just go with the flow with the coaching change a year ago.”

Once the game started, it did not take ODU long to find the left side of the box.

Sophomore midfielder Ece Turkoglu scored the Monarch’s first goal at the 9:44 mark in the game.

The Monarchs took 11 shots in the game while the Herd only put up six. Metztli Gonzalez took three shots in the game, which ended up being a game high.

After a foul on Marshall in the 24th minute, senior forward Amanda Nhek scored on a penalty kick, putting ODU up 2-0. It was her first goal of the season.

Nhek is not the only Monarch who scored her first goal of the season against the Herd.

At the 74:24 mark in the game, sophomore midfielder Cami Johnstone scored her first goal of the season to put ODU up 3-0; Nhek would get credited for the assist.

The game was never in doubt from that point forward, as the Herd could not muster a goal.

Swan said that he hopes the Herd can finish out the season strong.

“We’re looking for a performance with a little bit of quality,” Swan said. “We’ve got a game on Sunday that we’ll prepare for, and hopefully we’ll be back at it.”

Marshall is set to host the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears on Sunday at 5 p.m. for its next game.

Noah Hickman can be contacted at [email protected].