Women’s Soccer Notebook

Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter

Going back to Cali
The Rams traveled to Northern California this weekend for the St. Mary’s Tournament, where they continued their rigorous non-conference schedule with match-ups against host St. Mary’s and U.C. Riverside. They lost 1-0 to St. Mary’s on Friday in heartbreaking fashion. The contest was scoreless until the 82nd minute when Christina Tognetti netted a close-range goal to ice the game. The Rams were mostly stagnant on offense, managing just three shots on goal throughout the 90 minutes. It was VCU’s second consecutive 1-0 loss, the first one coming against Georgetown on September 4.

VCU beat U.C. Riverside on Sunday afternoon 1-0 in double overtime. The Rams peppered Highlander keeper Jessica Olafsen with 14 shots, and allowed just 9. Maren Johansen scored her first goal as a member of the black and gold, on an assist from Carly Edgcomb. The goal came in the 101st minute of overtime. It was VCU’s first win in their last five games and the first time they found the back of the net in the past three.

Carden living up to lofty expectations
Co-head coach Tiffany Sahaydak said Kristin Carden is the player to watch going into this season, and she has met that challenge with open arms. Despite the team’s overall struggles, the former Virginia Tech goalkeeper has been outstanding in net for VCU. Carden has started all seven games and has a goals against average of just 1.23. She has recorded 22 saves to this point including six in the loss to St. Mary’s on Friday, and seven in the double-overtime loss to Villanova back on September 2. She also recorded a shutout against U.C Riverside on Sunday. Because of the Rams’ offensive struggles, Carden has had to be almost perfect to keep her team in games. And while she hasn’t been perfect, if she continues to play the way she has, VCU will have a lot to look forward to when the offense does finally come around.

CAA season to start on September 23
VCU will open conference play on Friday, September 23 when they travel to Boston to take on Northeastern. The Huskies, like VCU, have struggled in non-conference play this season. Currently, they are 2-4 with just six goals to their name in as many games. Northeastern, who finished seventh in the CAA last year played a brutal non-conference slate which included games against power conference schools such as the University of Connecticut, South Carolina and Clemson. VCU will have plenty of time to prepare for the conference opener thanks to their twelve day layoff between the St. Mary’s tournament and the game against Northeastern. However, after that it will be a grind as the conference schedule hits high gear. Their first three CAA match-ups occur over a span of just six days, with Hofstra and George Mason on deck.