VCU tallied an unusual win Saturday night against seventh-ranked UNC Greensboro after having split the pair of games in the Nike/Alltel Classic over last weekend.
The score was 3-1, and the game ended almost 15 minutes early, but not because of inclement weather – in fact, the weather outside was perfect – but because five Spartans were removed from the game for losing their heads.
UNCG’s Henning Jonasson exhibited violent behavior and had to be restrained by his teammates. He was ejected from the game within the last 2 minutes of the first half, right after his outburst toward the referee.
UNC Greensboro managed a strong start, shooting the first shot-on-goal, but suffered two scores from VCU in the first half.
Fred Owusu Sekyere (Suame-Kumasi, Ghana) scored the first shot of the game from 5 yards out, after converting a cross from Pat Viray (Reston/South Lakes HS) in the 13th minute.
He continued to move the ball with skill until a player kicked him, causing him to limp temporarily. Coach O’Sullivan substituted in Thomas Waanders (Borculo, Netherlands) for him, but Owusu Sekyere re-entered the match after halftime.
Fred Owusu Sekyere commented saying UNC Greensboro “came to play rugby and wanted us to play it with them. We just did everything the coach said to do.”
Matthijs Maruanaya (Alkmaar, Netherlands) scored VCU’s second point with a 25-yard free kick at the 31-minute mark.
Two more goals were scored in the next half. UNC Greensboro’s Scott Jones was fouled 35 yards out from the goal and scored on the free kick. The Spartans were two men down at the time of Jones’s goal.
Pat Viray, named CAA co-player of the week picked up Adam Combs’s (Winston-Salem, N.C.) assist from across the field and shot the goal from 5 yards out. That was the last goal anyone scored before the game prematurely ended 10 minutes later.
But even though the Spartans’ points were low, it wasn’t the scoring that held them back.
The Rams’ Vitor Degani (Sao Paulo, Brazil) said, “They just didn’t play by the rules.”
Shortly after the start of the second half, Thomas Campbell slide-tackled Thomas Weingartner (Munich, Germany) out of bounds as the ball was already out. The refs detected the second hint of the Spartans’ foul play and red carded Campbell immediately.
In the 75th minute of play, UNC Greensboro’s David Worthen was red carded, sparking the flames of rage which shot from the mouths of Jokull Elisabetarson and Randi Patterson. Elisabetarson was issued a yellow card for his outward objection, but then Patterson was ejected to join Worthen on the bus.
Finally, either Scott Jones failed to realize he was the last thread by which his team was hanging, or he did, and it angered him – whatever the case, he chose not to spend his last 22 seconds playing soccer.
If he had, perhaps the game would have played out for another 14 minutes, however painfully it might have been for the six players and goalkeeper.
Playing the game down two points with uneven players is a difficult thing for any team to take in stride, but there came a breaking point when passion overtook the Spartans’ logical approach to the game.
Losing Thomas Campbell in the 52nd minute was that breaking point, after which much aggression was displayed and the outlook of the game became thick and hopeless, even as witnessed from the stands.
Head coach Tim O’Sullivan said, “Our guys played very well. I told them after the match that they represented themselves well and handled themselves well under difficult conditions.”
A heated game of soccer was played on both ends, as VCU racked up more off sides than UNCG, 4-2 with a combined total of 30 fouls, 13-17 UNCG attaining more.
There was also a great deal of bandaging and nursing taking place on the sidelines after Saturday night’s game.
O’Sullivan said a line that the Rams faithfully repeated: “We stuck to the game.”
By a veteran coach’s logic, the Spartans would have benefited greatly from “sticking to the game” but their loss was attributable to more than a series of fatal errors.
The refs would only say “rules of the game,” and did not attempt to specify errors or justify any action they took during the game.
Matthijs Maruanaya says, “It was bad sportsmanship,” adding, “We simply stuck to the game of soccer, they didn’t, and the refs called them out on it.”
By staying the course and not allowing the fervor of the Spartans to break their resolve, the team achieved its ends peacefully, and on this particular night, got their win early.
The Rams are ranked fourth in the CAA, and the Spartans ranked seventh. VCU now carries a record of 2-1-0.