Dragons hand Rams sixth straight defeat

The Rams lost to Drexel, 3-2, this past Sunday. The loss was the sixth consecutive defeat for VCU and dropped its season record to 4-8.

The Dragons opened the game with lots of offensive pressure and controlled most of the action early in the game. Seven minutes into the first half, the Dragons scored a goal off of a penalty corner shot to take a 1-0 lead. VCU tied the game at 1-1 about five minutes later as the Rams’ sophomore midfielder Marle van Dessel (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands/Odulphus Lyceum) scored a goal off of a penalty corner shot. The goal was assisted by senior Alaina Vernetti (Fredericksburg/Massaponax). After van Dessel scored, both teams missed on scoring opportunities.

Drexel had a chance to score but the shot was saved by senior goalkeeper Laura Baker (Kent, England/Langley Park). VCU then had another chance to score off of a penalty corner shot, but the shot was blocked. Moments later, VCU missed on another opportunity as a shot by senior Nikki Hollibaugh (Spotsylvania/Massaponax) went wide. Marle van Dessel scored her second goal of the game with about seven minutes remaining in the first half off of another penalty corner to give the Rams a 2-1 halftime lead. This goal was also assisted by Vernetti.

The second half of the game was controlled by the Dragons. Once again, they started with lots of offensive pressure. Drexel’s Christina Mastropaolo scored two goals within the first eight minutes of the second half to give the Dragons the lead at 3-2. The Dragons continued to put lots of pressure on VCU’s defense after the two goals by Mastropaolo. VCU attempted only three shots in the second half. Two of the shots were saved. The other shot was a penalty shot by sophomore Flore van Dessel (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands/Odulphus Lyceum) with about 20 minutes left in the game. The shot went wide.

The Rams will attempt to break their losing streak on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Longwood at 1 p.m.