Three shots from Petrone doom Rams

When the VCU Rams and Seton Hall Pirates headed into halftime scoreless, both teams had missed several opportunities to score goals.

The second half was a different story.

Seton Hall forward Samuel Petrone answered a VCU goal with three of his own and added an assist and the Pirates defeated the Rams 4-1 in the final match of the Nike/Alltel Classic at SportsBackers Stadium.

With the victory, Seton Hall won the tournament title. VCU finished second in front of Bryant College.

Both teams missed easy scoring opportunities early. Seton Hall had three opportunities from inside the 18-yard box within the first 13 minutes, but was unable to convert. VCU missed similar opportunities in the 20th and 30th minutes, as shots by Jorit Loehr (Bremen, Germany) and Owusu Sekyere (Suame-Kumasi, Ghana/Opoku Ware) fell victim to a great save and sailed wide right, respectively.

The Rams came out hot in the second half, keeping the ball at Seton Hall’s end of the field and finally putting a goal in the back of the net. In the 54th minute, Sekyere crossed a ball into the box that Loehr cut off and flipped backwards to a waiting C.J. Gehin-Scott (Chesapeake/Hickory). Gehin-Scott caught Seton Hall goalie Sean Carr leaning, and fired the ball into back of the net.

“Just coming across I knew it was popping out and I went right after it,” Gehin-Scott said. “I just put my head down and buried it as hard as I could.”

Gehin-Scott was seeing some of his first action of the season after breaking his foot in the preseason. The sophomore is also making a transition to playing forward after playing defense as a freshman.

The Rams didn’t have long to celebrate their lead as Petrone found Andrew Welker cutting down the middle of the field in the 67th minute to tie the score at one. Petrone then completed his hat trick over the next 18 minutes to seal the victory.

VCU coach Tim O’Sullivan said it was the entire Seton Hall squad that made the difference in the game.

“I think Seton Hall has not only Petrone, but the pieces around Petrone that make him effective.”

O’Sullivan also said the Pirates’ style of play was a factor in the outcome.

“Give Seton Hall credit. They put a lot of pressure on us and pressed really hard. We could not catch up to the speed of play for a long time.”

VCU next plays Saturday against Virginia, which is coming off a double-overtime victory over George Mason. In order to compete, O’Sullivan said the Rams must improve in all aspects of the game.

“For us to move forward, we’ve got to be able to sustain physical and mental play for longer periods of time.”