Stephanie’s got the power

It took four games for the VCU Rams women’s soccer team to score a goal. Now, after the past two games, it appears that the Rams can’t be stopped. Senior Stephanie Power (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia/Dartmouth) scored two goals and assisted on a third that nearly gave her a hat trick, as the Rams defeated the Bucknell Bison 3-2 at SportsBackers Stadium Sunday afternoon.

“It definitely feels good to get the second ‘W’,” head coach Tiffany Roberts-Sahaydak said. “It definitely exposed some areas that we need to get better, but to have the mentality to get one when we get scored on-I’m happy with that,” she said.

The Rams jumped ahead of the Bison in the 18th minute thanks to Power’s second goal of the season. After Bucknell’s defense failed to successfully clear the ball out of it’s goal box, forward June Hartman (Virginia Beach/Tallwood) found Power at the top of the box, where she punched it past Bison goalkeeper Kathyrn Sutton.

The Rams out-shot the Bison 4-0 in the period and took the 1-0 lead into halftime. VCU’s momentum carried into the second half behind good defense and another goal by Power. In the first 13 minutes, VCU keeper Lauren Hardison (Midlothian/Clover Hill) made two tough saves to keep the Bison off the scoreboard. The first was a tip save over the crossbar that she was just able to get her hands on, the second was a sliding save in traffic. In the same time period, Power netted her second goal on an assist from junior Amanda Adams (Salem/Salem). Adams served the ball in from just outside of the 18-yard box, and Power was able to beat the goalie with a step-over move to make the score 2-0.

However, Bucknell was able to make a furious comeback in the final 22 minutes. With 21:48 remaining, the Bison were able to convert on a VCU miscue. After a long ball was played into the Rams’ box, Hardison, who was almost out to the 18-yard mark, was unable to catch the ball off the bounce. Christa Matlack controlled the ball off the bounce and beat the VCU defender with a shot that bounced off the right post and into the net. Roberts-Sahaydak mentioned miscues such as these as a contributing factor in VCU’s early season struggles.

“We are still giving up soft goals-goals that come from our mistakes. That’s something we need to focus on,” she said.

The Bison scored again in the 39th minute, once again on a VCU miscue to tie the score at two. Caitlin Holtz lofted a free kick from just outside the VCU box into the middle, but the defense was unable to get a foot on it. Hardison attempted to make a sliding stop on the ball, but Bucknell’s Brooke Stokes got there first and flicked it in.

Despite Bucknell’s quick punches to even the score, VCU was able to deliver the knockout blow. Just over 30 seconds after Stokes’ goal, a deep ball by the VCU defense ended in another shot by Power. The shot was deflected by a Bison defender, but then bounced off the head of sophomore Laurel Pastor (Springfield/West Springfield) and into the net, making the score 3-2.

Power said it was the Rams’ confidence that pushed the team through after the Bison tied the score.

“We responded well. We didn’t put our heads down – maybe for a moment – but we controlled the run of the game, so we had the confidence and knew we could score” she said.