NORFOLK, Va. (Nov. 17) - 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 
          & AdrienneYoder


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)

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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."