Rams fall to cross-town rival
VCU was looking for their second win in three days when they battled cross-town rival University of Richmond Friday night, but the Spiders scored a goal with 41 seconds to go to down the Rams 1-0 at First Market Stadium.
Alex Naime got past freshman goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra (Woodbridge, Va./ Osbourn Park High School) and drilled a shot from 35 yards away into the open net for the Spiders.
VCU’s best opportunity to score came in the 68th minute when Richmond’s goalkeeper made a diving save on Brian Morris’ (Springfield, Va.) header.
The Rams outshot the Spiders 12-4 and kept Richmond from registering a shot on goal in the second half for nearly 43 minutes. Senior Dominic Oduro led the Rams with four shots.
The Rams defeated UM-Baltimore County Wednesday evening for their second victory of the season.
Morris scored a pair of goals in the second half, to give him three on the season, as the Rams nipped UMBC 2-1 at Sports Backers Stadium.
Women drop West Coast opener
VCU lost the opening match of the Oregon State University/Nike Invitational Friday 1-0 to Washington State in sloppy conditions.
The tie was broken when WSU’s Megan Hyte was able to get the ball past VCU’s Emily Niman (Pittsburgh, Pa.). The sophomore goalkeeper made five saves in the match in the cold, rainy weather.
Sandra Anger (Cuguen, France) had three shots to pace the Rams, who played host to Oregon State Sunday. The game is a rematch of the Rams’ 3-2 overtime victory last season.
Rams part of Bracket Buster again
The field for ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday on Feb. 18, 2006, was revealed last week, and VCU will play a home game against one of 50 yet-to-be-determined teams.
Eleven games will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU, but the decision about which games to feature will not be made until Jan. 29.
VCU played at the College of Charleston in last year’s Bracket Buster Saturday.
Three advance to finals
Three VCU players advanced into the finals during the second day of the 13th annual William & Mary Invitational Saturday.
Marianna Yuferova (St. Petersburg, Russia) and Olga Borisova (Minsk, Belarus), ranked fourth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason poll, scored victories over the duo of Rachel Del Priore and Douglas Wink from Virginia, 8-2, followed by a 9-8 (3) win over Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith of North Carolina in the flight a semifinals.
The VCU pair met Texas Tech’s Tara Browning and Lakann Wagley in the final Sunday.
Also reaching the finals for VCU was Viktoriya Konstantinova (Hanskovo, Bulgaria), who upended top seed Charlotte Tansill of North Carolina, 6-2, 6-3 in the Flight C singles draw
Cross country third at Virginia Tech
The VCU men’s cross country team placed third at the Virginia Tech Invitational II on the Meredith cross county course Friday.
Junior Lukasz Matusiewicz (Warsaw, Poland) was the top Ram to finish, placing 14th of 46 runners. Mariusz Mostrag (Krajnik, Poland) finished in 20th for the Rams.
The University of North Carolina took home first-place honors at the Ranson-Hamrick course Saturday, but VCU had strong runs by senior Emily Thompson (Crozet/Western Albemarle High School), Libby Little (Spotsylvania/Courtland High School) and Samantha Hendel (Rockville Center).