Sports briefs

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Joey Wingo (Richmond/Lee-Davis) had the top finish for VCU at the Tribe Open this past Saturday. The senior finished 14th overall in the 8K event, which was unscored, with a time of 27:22. Senior Jay Wyss (Richmond/J.R. Tucker) finished 16th with a time of 27:30. Freshman Tyler Simmons (Woodbridge/Osbourne Park) finished in 18th place with a time of 27:33.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Freshman Heather DelaCruz (Williamsburg/Lafayette) finished fourth in the Tribe Open 6K this past Saturday to lead VCU in the unscored event. She finished the course with a time of 23:53. Sophomore Genova Washington (Woodbridge/Garfield) and freshman Nicole Walters (Orange/Orange County) also finished in the top 10. Washington finished 8th with a time of 54:52 and Walters finished 10th with a time of 25:23.

FIELD HOCKEY

The Rams’ losing streak was extended to nine games after a pair of losses this past week. On Wednesday, they lost to Richmond 3-2 in overtime. The Spiders scored the game winning goal just 84 seconds into overtime. Sophomores Rosan van Eijkelenburg (Middleburg, Holland/Nehalennia) and Marle van Dessel (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands/Odulphus Lyceum) scored the goals for VCU. On Friday, the Rams were shutout by sixth-ranked James Madison. The Dukes’ Melissa Stefaniak scored a hat trick in the victory. VCU’s record is now 4-11 overall and 0-5 in the CAA.

MEN’S SOCCER

The soccer team was shutout in a pair of home games this past week. On Wednesday, the Rams lost to UNC Wilmington 1-0. VCU outshot Wilmington 16-10, but could not get a shot into the net. Wilmington scored the only goal of the contest 16 seconds into the second half. On Saturday, VCU lost 2-0 to Drexel. Once again VCU outshot its opponent. The Rams attempted 18 shots while Drexel only attempted eight. The Dragons scored their first goal in the 20th minute and added an insurance goal in the 87th. The losses drop the team to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in the CAA.

In other news.

Junior Forsan Asad-Radwan (Amman, Jordan/James River) was named to Soccer America’s Team of the Week after his play against James Madison and William and Mary. It was the second straight week Asad-Radwan earned the honor. In the James Madison game, he scored the only goal and handed the Dukes their first home loss. In the William and Mary game, he assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Rams a 2-1 win.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Rams lost consecutive games for the first time since the opening four games of the season with losses to William and Mary and Old Dominion this past week. The Tribe scored twice in the final four minutes to beat VCU 2-1 on Thursday. June Hartman scored off an assist from Stephanie Power in the 63rd minute, but William and Mary’s Abby Lauer assisted Claire Zimmeck in the 87th minute and Kellie Jenkins in the 89th to take the victory. Against Old Dominion, the Rams gave up two goals within the first 10 minutes and the Monarchs added another in the 45th to seal the deal in a 3-0 shut out. With the two losses, VCU is now 8-7-1 overall and 4-3-1 in the conference.

MEN’S TENNIS

Senior Emil Lindgren (Stocksund, Sweden) won the ‘A-2’ singles draw at the Sergio Tacchini Invitational in Newport News on Oct. 12. Lindgren defeated a pair of University of Maryland-Baltimore County players on his way to the title, knocking off Nick Savage-Pollock 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals and Chris Mayer 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the final. Freshmen Nicolas Vinel (Metz, France) and Jordan Dyke (Alexandria) also put up impressive performances, reaching the semifinals of the semifinals of their respective draws. Vinel fell victim to Old Dominion’s Aleksandr Seleznev 0-6, 6-1, 1-0 while Coastal Carolina’s Plamen Tzvetkov defeated Dyke 6-2, 6-3.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Freshman Mihaela Buena (Bucharest, Romania) won the ‘A-2′ doubles draw highlighting the Rams’ performance at the Sergio Tacchini Invitational. Buena teamed with Virginia Tech’s Courtney Rauscher to win the title. Freshman Ana Bara (Oradea, Romania) made it to the ‘A-2’ singles final, but fell to Old Dominion’s Charleen Haarhoff 6-3, 6-3.

VOLLEYBALL

The Rams remained undefeated in conference road games after a 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23, 15-8) victory over William and Mary this past Thursday. Elisa Kuehnel (Dresden, Germany/Sportsgymnasium) led the Rams offensively with 14 kills while Marketa Janeckova (Olomouc, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Cajkovskeho Olomouc) had 12. Both players recorded 15 digs while Laryssa Goncalves (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Dom Bosco) had a game-high 19. The win improves the Rams to 12-7 overall and 4-2 in the CAA.