Sports in Brief

Women’s soccer

Florida Atlantic Tournament

BOCA RATON, Fla. – On Friday evening, the VCU women’s soccer team played Stetson University for 27 minutes before lightning put an end to the fun. The next morning, the two teams carried out a full 90-minute match.

The Stetson Hatters were the first on the scoreboard when Kelsey Kramer converted a corner kick during the 33rd minute of play. Sophomore Megan Flanagan (Franktown, Colo.) tied up the game nine minutes later, and the teams remained tied

until halftime.

Amanda Adams (Salem/Salem) connected off Stephanie Power’s (Darmouth, Nova Scotia) ricochet off the goal corner for the second point on VCU’s tally.

With just thirteen minutes left on the game clock, junior Hayley Moorwood (Auckland, New Zealand) received a cross from the right side of the field sent by junior Laure Dupont (Plessis Robinson, France) and tapped it in, securing the win.

VCU took a 13-3 advantage over Stetson in shots, and 8-2 for

shots-on-goal.

Field hockey

Connecticut Huskies Classic

STORRS, Conn. – The VCU field hockey team split their pair of matches at the Connecticut Huskies Classic over the weekend. In their first match on Saturday, Aug. 25, they lost to the University of Connecticut 1-3 but went on to beat Monmouth 7-3 on Sunday.

In their first game, UConn’s Lindsay Leck assisted Lauren Aird on a goal during the first nine minutes, then freshman Emilie Osinga (Aerdenhout, Netherlands) scored VCU’s single goal in the 21st minute. UConn’s Lindsay Leck and Dani Griep scored two more to beat the Rams 1-3.

In Sunday’s game, Monmouth led 0-1 in the first period before Emilie Osinga scored two quick goals within 2 1?2 minutes of each other, freshman Vicky Smith (Rumson, N.J.) offering her first collegiate assist to Osinga’s second goal.

VCU’s Jenna Harris (Aurora, Colo.) then connected a pass from freshman Ashley Aston (Suffolk/Nansemond River HS) to the goal. Before the half was up, sophomore Nikki Lloyd (Kent, England) shot a goal, giving VCU a 4-2 lead at halftime.

Ashley Cadwallader (Fairfax/Fairfax) scored a goal at the start of the second period. Freshman Rachel Krumm (Norfolk/Granby) was right behind her with her first goal, and then Cadwallader nailed a second attempt, putting the match at its final score of 7-3.

On Friday, Sept. 1, the Rams will go to New Haven, Conn., to play Yale at 3 p.m.

Volleyball

Duke Invitational

RALEIGH, N.C. – The VCU volleyball team finished the Duke Invitational at Cameron Indoor Stadium Sat. Aug. 26 with a 2-1 mark, beating Gardner-Webb 3-0 and Marquette 3-1 but losing to Duke 0-3 in the final game.

During the Gardner-Webb game on Friday, outside hitters Elisa Kuehnel (Dresden, Germany) and Ludmila Francescatto (Fraiburga, Brazil) led the match in aces and kills, keeping Gardner-Webb on the defensive. VCU earned a 30-23, 30-25, 30-27 sweep of Gardner-Webb, out-hitting them .265-.195 and 12-4 aces and out-blocked them 6-3.

Playing Marquette the following day, the Rams cut down on their aces and were blocked tremendously while boosting their kills to 65 to meet Marquette’s 63. Being higher on their attacks and digs, they were able to overcome, allowing VCU to score a single point. Ludmila Francescatto came out with 25 kills and 22 digs, beating her own personal record. Cat Juson provided an unbelievable 57 assists, her highest ever. VCU was out-hit .154-.185 but overtook Marquette 30-23, 20-30, 34-32, 30-26.

After the match, VCU coach James Finley said, “It was one of those games where whoever won was going to win the match pretty much every time because of how much emotion

was involved.”

Later that day, when facing the Blue Devils, the Rams struggled through their defeat. VCU lost 24-30, 22-30 and 28-30. Out-hit .125-.150, the Rams fell short in kills, aces, and digs to Duke University.

VCU plays again on Fri. Sept. 1, at the Molten Classic at BYU, in Provo, Utah. Their first opponents will be Texas A&M Corpus-Christie at 7 p.m.