BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Niko Klosterhalfen scored twice and Old Dominion rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit Tuesday to claim a 3-2 win over Campbell at the Eakes Athletic Complex.
The Monarchs (8-3-2) stretched their unbeaten streak to four matches (3-0-1), while Campbell (5-7-1) lost its second-straight outing.
Thibaut Jacquel and
Aigbekan Nosegbe scored for the Camels, and
Matt Lock provided two assists, but the Camels could not find a late equalizer despite playing with a man advantage for the last 22 minutes.
"Old Dominion is a nationally-recognized program and in the first half, we did some good things to grab a two-goal lead," said Campbell head coach
Dustin Fonder. "However, in the second half, instead of coming out with focus, we made some of the same mistakes that have cost us games, and they ultimately cost us this one."
In the 16th minute, Lock slid a pass through
Alemu Mercer-Miko, who hit a low cross that Jacquel met in the box and buried in the right side of the net to put the Camels ahead.
JJ Donnelly nearly doubled the margin in the 33rd minute on a header off Lock's free kick, but ODU keeper Mertcan Akar was able to react and parry the ball over his crossbar for a corner kick.
In the 43rd minute, Lock again provided a pass that led to Nosegbe's third goal of the year and the Camels took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room.
However, only 13 seconds into the second half, the Monarchs cut the advantage in half.
Ian Rees was shown yellow for a challenge outside the Camel box and Deniz Dogan curled the restart over the wall and into the left corner of Sam Lechuga's net.
Just over 10 minutes later, ODU drew level when Klosterhalfen buried a feed from Hans Kroschwitz in the area.
Klosterhalfen then gave ODU its lead in the 64th minute off Max Wilschrey's assist.
In the 68th minute, ODU back Luke Campbell was sent off with his second yellow card after a hard foul from behind against Jacquel. Just after the re-start, Jacquel dribbled diagonally toward goal and unleashed a dipping right-footed shot that was headed for the lower right corner only to see Akar dive to clear the attempt for a corner.
With ODU playing nine men behind the ball, Campbell held much of the possession, but only had a few good chances in the last 20 minutes. In the 86th, Nosegbe fired from just outside the box through traffic, but directly to Akar.
Campbell earned a 90th minute corner kick and Donnelly rose in the area to meet Jacquel's pass, but his header went wide left.
ODU, which drew with top-ranked North Carolina 1-1 in its last outing, finished with a 19-10 advantage in shots, while Campbell had six attempts on target, compared to five for the visitors. Akar finished with four saves for the Monarchs, while Lechuga made two stops in the CU nets.
"We've played some difficult opponents in difficult atmospheres so far this season. Our hope is that we've learned the lessons and apply them in our final four-game push," said Fonder.
Campbell returns to Big South Conference play Saturday in a 4:00 p.m. kickoff at Gardner-Webb.
