VCU and Longwood battle to tie

Coming off a big win over Richmond on
Wednesday night, the VCU men’s soccer team hosted a feisty Longwood team Sunday.

“I have to give them Longwood credit in that they’re an extremely hard working team and very well organized,” VCU coach Tim O’Sullivan said

The Rams and Lancers battled for 110 minutes, but neither could emerge victorious, in a 1-1 tie.

The first half time of possession was dominated by the Lancers. A very physical Longwood team kept the Rams from putting a shot on goal through the first 45 minutes and committed 11 fouls.

Despite the physical brand of attack by the Lancers, the Rams were able to keep them out of the goal. Freshman keeper Jack Van Arsdale (Richmond) had two saves.

The teams went into the half scoreless.

The second half would prove to be a different story as the Rams began to chip away at the Lancer time of possession advantage.

The Rams began to put some shots on Longwood keeper Joel Helmick.

On their first shot on goal of the game, the Rams got on the scoreboard, in the 33rd minute of the second half.

Junior Romario Blandon (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) advanced up the left side of the field and sent a perfectly placed low cross into the box to senior Philip Daldrup (Bremen, Germany) who deposited it into the upper-right-hand corner of the goal, past the diving Helmick.

A big reason for the Rams’ second half improvement was the play of the defense.

However, even though the Rams made a push toward taking over the game, they would allow a goal while holding the lead for the third consecutive game.

In the 17th minute of the second half, Longwood junior Harvey Headley received a pass from senior Martin Vickerton and put it in the back of the net.

The goal was the Lancers’ first of the season.

With 6:27 remaining, Longwood’s Zack Mahon got a great chance to win it for the Lancers.

The sophomore got an opportunity off a rebound to kick the ball into an open goal. As he kicked it, Van Arsdale returned to the picture and made a diving stop with his outstretched right hand to save the game for the Rams.

In the remaining minutes of regulation, the Rams and Lancers returned to their stalemate, trading possession and searching for any opportunity to gain the advantage.

After 90 minutes, the teams remained tied at one.

The teams battled into extra sessions, but neither could breakthrough and win the match, they tied 1-1.

For VCU, Van Arsdale had a solid game recording seven saves in his regular season debut.

“Jack (Van Arsdale) was just really solid, we didn’t have any hesitation playing Jack in this game,” O’Sullivan said.

The Rams had more scoring opportunities in overtime and dominated the overtime action, but couldn’t seem to find the net.

The physical play of the Lancers turned out to be a story, as they committed 24 fouls to the Rams 12 and wound up with three yellow cards on the evening.

“They came in very strong, but when we realized they were coming in very strong we tried to match them boot for boot,” senior Oweswu Seykere (Suame-Kumasi, Ghana) said.

The Rams move to 3-1-1 on the young season and prepare for CAA play with George Mason coming to Sports Backers on Saturday at 7 p.m.