Field hockey blows out Longwood
By: Quinn Casteel
Staff Writer
In action for the first time since an emotional overtime win over James Madison on October 8, the VCU field hockey team blew out non-conference opponent Longwood on Wednesday night. With the 4-0 victory, the Rams capped off a four game home-stand in which they took three of four, the only loss coming to Drexel back on October 1.
“Coming off a huge win like [the JMU match], the next game is always the most dangerous” said head coach Kelly McQuade. “We had to check our egos a little bit and come back strong, which we did.”
In Wednesday’s match against Longwood, VCU struck early and would maintain control throughout the contest. Kelsey Scherrer notched her tenth goal of the season off an assist from Marle van Dessel in just the ninth minute of the first half to give VCU a lead that would only grow as the game went on.
“It was a very well-placed and well-paced ball [from Marle]” said Scherrer, “I had a lot of time to look up at the cage and see where I needed to put it.”
VCU controlled the ball throughout, but when they were forced to play defense they were stifling, not allowing a single shot on goal until the 25th minute of the first half.
“We wanted to defend as a team and attack as a team.” noted van Dessel. “We’ve struggled for a while to get going in the first half so it was really great to score in the first couple minutes and set the pace of the game.”
Pressure would be the key on defense for the Rams as they cruised to their fourth shutout of the season, first since a 2-0 win over Towson on September 26. The defense made it an easy night for goalkeepers Erin Jablonski and Megan Botteri who combined for just one save.
Chelsea Hill notched her third goal of the season off a loose ball in the final minute of the first half, giving VCU some much needed momentum after a quiet stretch following Scherrer’s strike. Hill’s goal right before halftime proved to be a sparkplug as the Rams came out firing on all cylinders to open the second half. Just 26 seconds in, Kayla Mueller finished off a pass from Emily Soares to break the game open.
VCU would continue to dominate the second half, coming out looking more fresh and energetic than the visiting Lancers. Less than five minutes after Mueller’s finish, Arialle Hess put the game even further out of reach with her third goal of the season.
From there the Rams would cruise to their third consecutive win, improving to 10-4 overall on the season. Beginning on Saturday, the team will open a four game road stint starting with non-conference games against Davidson and Appalachian State this weekend.
“The two games this weekend are must wins for us to set ourselves up for the postseason.” added McQuade.
VCU’s run for the postseason will hit its peak in the next two weeks as they close out the regular season with conference games against Old Dominion and William & Mary before finishing things off at home against Northeastern on October 29.