Women’s soccer loses to La Salle in OT A-10 Championship

Staff Reports

The VCU women’s soccer team (12-5-5) advanced all the way to the Atlantic 10 Championship in the team’s first season as a member of the conference, but would lose to No. seed La Salle (17-4-1) 2-1 in the waning moments of the first overtime period on a goal by Maryam Huseini.

Maren Johansen scored the lone goal for the Rams in the loss, her third of the season. Renee Washington found the net first for La Salle in the 47th minute in Sunday’s A-10 Championship, but Johansen was able to counter for VCU just 11 minutes later.

However, ultimately it was the Explorers who came out on top thanks to the golden goal by Huseini, a shot into the left side of the net following a deflection in the box for her fourth of the year.

VCU made the championship match by defeating St. Joseph’s and Dayton in the first rounds of the conference tournament, the most recent win over a perennially dominant Flyers team in penalty kicks. At Rhode Island University, the site of the semifinals and final of the A-10 Tournament, VCU defeated Dayton by going a perfect 3-for-3 in PK’s to advance to the team’s second straight conference championship after playing William & Mary last season in the CAA title match.

Although VCU women’s soccer would not manage to get Sunday’s match to PK’s, the Rams have put together one of the best two-year stretches in the team’s recent history. VCU will not be the recipient of the A-10’s only automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament but would be eligible for an at large bid.