Rams continue conference streak

Utterly dominating. That’s a good way to describe the women’s soccer team’s 1-0 defeat of CAA rival Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens at Sports Backers Stadium Friday night thanks to a first half goal by junior left back Brittain Maas (McLean/McLean).

The win extended the team’s 16- game (17 after Sunday’s win over Drexel) CAA unbeaten streak that dates all the way back to the 2004 season. It also serves as the team’s fourth win in the last seven games as they improve their record to 7-2-2 (3-0-0 in the CAA).

Like many soccer games, the score does not tell the whole story. VCU outshot the Blue Hens 8-2 in a game where VCU enjoyed much of the possession, preventing the Blue Hens from ever developing an attack rhythm of their own.

The possession was nice, but it did a good job of masking the Rams’ only deficiency tonight – finishing.

“With the quality that we were playing with tonight we would’ve liked to stick more (goals) away,” said co-head coach Chris Brown. “But in the end we got the result, and I’d much rather have that.”

VCU came out with their guns blazing, creating a dangerous scoring opportunity in the sixth minute as sophomore midfielder Stephanie Power (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) played a perfectly weighted pass to sophomore midfielder Megan Flanagan (Franktown, Colo.) on the right side of the penalty area.

Flanagan’s curling shot hit the inside of the post, but junior midfielder Hayley Moorwood (Auckland, New Zealand) was there to hit the rebound right back though her shot fell into the arms of Blue Hens goalkeeper Bonnie Mills.

The Rams showed great teamwork as Maas and sophomore forward Pernilla Jansson (Stockholm, Sweden) worked a defense-splitting give and go with Maas’ shot going over the crossbar in the 21st minute.

Knocking at the door with three previous shots in the game, Maas finally put the Rams ahead six minutes later with a 25-yard rocket that Mills had no chance of saving.

The goal came after a tussle for possession on the right side of the field. Junior defender Laure Dupont (Plessis Robinson, France) and Power worked to win the ball and switch it to the left side of the field where Maas pounced.

“I was just so excited, I threw my hands up and looked straight for my teammates,” said Maas of her first career goal. “We had been dominating them all game, and it was good to finally jump ahead.”

Dupont almost had her second assist of the night as her cross found the head of sophomore defensive midfielder Michelle Schuler (Skillman, N.J./Notre Dame) in the six yard box but Mills was there to make a quick reflex save.

The teams hit the locker rooms with the Rams ahead 1-0 though not after a scare as the Blue Hens’ Melissa Kilker fired a shot that was saved by junior goalkeeper Lauren Hardison (Midlothian/Clover Hill). Hardison would go on to achieve her fifth shutout of the season.

Sophomore midfielder Leigh Anthony (Fredericksburg/W.Va.), who came on as a substitute midway through the first half, made a big impact as she and Jansson combined to create several chances in the second half.

But the closest that VCU came to going two up came in the 63rd minute with freshman defender Myriam Bouchard (Quebec, Canada) sent a laser of a shot that hit the crossbar and appeared to cross the goal line, but the officials waved play on.

As the game waned to a finish, the Rams sent several more shots at the Blue Hens with none going in, coming away with the 1-0 victory at the final whistle.

Apparently the aggressive Ram offense is not new as Brown stated that aggression is “typically their game plan,” noting that it has “worked well for them down the recent stretch.”

The only downside to the game, aside from a lack of finishing, was an injury to freshman defender Karin Tersteeg (Diepenveen, Netherlands) in pregame warm-ups, with the extent of the injury unknown.