Good Morning Monarchs! “No, I Won’t Back Down. Hey, I’ll stand my ground.”

Not sure if Tom Petty was singing about ODU’s defense against USM when he wrote “I Won’t Back Down” in 1989, but the lyrics sure fit.

The Monarchs defense and Justin Verlander both threw up 0️⃣s when they needed it most.

We’ve got all the details and so much more!

What all do we have stirring in today’s edition of the Brew? Check it out!

🏈 A Class Of His Own
⚾️ There Goes That Man Again
🏑 En Fuego
👑 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 No, We Won’t Back Down. ODU flexed their muscles when they needed to most with fourth quarter goal line stand to seal a 17-13 victory on the road over USM on Saturday.

Led by a historic night from Jason Henderson, ODU’s defense allowed just three points after the first quarter and Keshawn Hicks rushed for two TDs to spark the offensive unit.

The Monarchs are now heading into the bye week at 2-1 in conference play and 3-3 overall.

📝: How It Went Down
🎥: Finding Pay Dirt

🔼 There Goes That Man Again. The legend of Justin Verlander continues to grow.

At 40 years old, the 9x All-Star, 3x Cy Young Award Winner, 2x World Series Champion stepped on the hill for yet another playoff appearance and was spectacular.

The right-hander tossed six scoreless innings in Houston’s Game 1 win over Minnesota in the ALDS.

🔼 En Fuego. In 1990s SportsCenter highlights, the ODU Field Hockey team would be labeled as “En Fuego.”

The Monarchs picked up a weekend sweep with wins over Georgetown on Friday (5-0) and Hofstra on Sunday (4-1) to extend their winning streak to five straight. During the streak, the Blue & Gray have outscored their opponents 16-2.

All-American Marlon de Bruijne had three goals on the weekend, while Sacha de Gier had a goal in each contest for the Monarchs.

📝: How It Went Down: ODU 5, Georgetown 0

📝: How It Went Down: ODU 4, Hofstra 1

🔼 All Tied Up. Entering Sunday night in Norfolk, it was clear that both ODU and JMU had one thing in common on the pitch… they were defensive.

Two of the Sun Belt’s top defenses squared off and as imagined, they battled to a 0-0 draw.

Long-time rival JMU was limited to just eight shots with only one on target, as the Monarchs picked up their ninth shutout of the season.

ODU now sits atop the Sun Belt East Division standings with 13 points, one ahead of the Dukes and two ahead of Appalachian State, their next opponent.

🦁 SUPPORT YOUR MONARCHS

Support your Monarchs and get 🔥🔥 gear? That’s a no brainer.

ODU has partnered with AthletesThreads.com to give fans the opportunity to purchase specialized Monarch gear to support the student-athletes NIL fund.

🏈 A CLASS OF HIS OWN

It’s only fitting that in a week that one of the greatest linebackers to ever play football passed away, Jason Henderson honored Dick Butkus in his own historic way.

With Henderson’s 17 tackles against USM on Saturday, he became the program’s all-time leading tackler

He passed former ODU linebacker Jordan Young with his 351^st career when he was the first to hit Tiaquelin Mims for a five-yard loss at the ODU 14 early in the third quarter. It was a key play, in that it forced the Golden Eagles to kick a field goal.

"He's earned every single tackle that he's made," said ODU head coach Ricky Rahne. "He's a warrior. He's played his tail off ever since he got here."

Henderson now sits at 356 tackles for his career, one that hasn’t even been three full seasons.

💪 RIVALRY RENEWED

TowneBank is a longstanding supporter of college athletics, and we are excited to cheer along the healthy competition for the second year of the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge between Old Dominion University and James Madison University.

We are fortunate to have a strong alumni base on both sides of the rivalry within the Towne family, and we look forward to seeing who will hoist the crown for the 2023-2024 academic year.

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

With yet another shutout in the books, junior Emily Bredek now has eight solo shutouts this fall for the ODU women’s soccer program.

In just two seasons of time between the pipes, how many total shutouts does she have in her career?

Got a guess?

Scroll down to the bottom of this email and see if you had the right answer!

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 WHAT’S ON TAP

Wednesday, October 11
🎾 Men’s Tennis at ITA Regionals (Lynchburg, Va.)

Thursday, October 12
🎾 Men’s Tennis at ITA Regionals (Lynchburg, Va.)

Friday, October 13
🏑 Field Hockey at Villanova @ 3pm
🏐 Volleyball at Coastal Carolina @ 6pm
⚽️ Women’s Soccer vs. Appalachian State @ 6pm
🎾 Men’s Tennis at ITA Regionals (Lynchburg, Va.)
🏊 Swimming vs. UNC Wilmington (Norfolk, Va.)

Saturday, October 14
🏐 Volleyball at Coastal Carolina @ 1pm
⚽️ Men’s Soccer vs. Central Florida @ 7pm
⛵️ Sailing at Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships
🎾 Men’s Tennis at ITA Regionals (Lynchburg, Va.)
⛵️ Sailing at Nevins Trophy (Kings Point, N.Y.)

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 11.

Bredek played in 10 games last fall and tallied three shutouts and this fall in a full-time starting role, the California native has eight clean sheets.

🦁 Enjoy Your Monday, Y’all!