Women’s soccer bounces back in third week
After a rough start to the season, the VCU women’s soccer reeled off four consecutive victories in the last three weeks to push their record to 5-4.
Robert Gary
Contributing Writer
After a rough start to the season, the VCU women’s soccer reeled off four consecutive victories in the last three weeks to push their record to 5-4.
With an early 1-3 record, the Rams suffered a disappointing loss to the College of Charleston in the first leg of the College of Charleston Tournament on Sept. 6
The Cougars took early command of the match, scoring within the first five minutes. VCU senior Courtney Conrad tied the match in the 26th minute, but that would be the only goal the Charleston defense would allow for the rest of the game.
Nicole Koresty locked up the win for the Cougars in the 49th minute after receiving a cross from the right side of the field and burying the ball in the bottom left corner of the net. The Rams outshot the cougars 16-9 in the match and an overwhelming 11-1 in the last 40 minutes but could not net the equalizing goal.
VCU bounced back on Sept. 8 with a 2-1 overtime win against Coastal Carolina in its final match of the College of Charleston tournament. Junior Maren Johansen gave the Rams the lead in the 57th minute, only to have the match tied up less than 60 seconds later. Senior Taryn Cressy scored the game winning corner kick with less than one minute left in overtime.
Returning to Richmond for their first home game of the season, the Rams hosted the VCU tournament at Sports Backers Stadium beginning on Sept. 13. VCU defeated Maine by a score of 2-0, dominating offensively with 15 shots on goal compared to only two shots from the Black Bears.
The Rams finished the tournament with another dominating performance against Campbell University and recorded their second consecutive shutout and third victory in as many games. Sophomore Natalie Moik’s hat-trick in the first 22 minutes of play set the stage for the Rams. Junior Alex Gogolin added a fourth and final tally in the 79th minute to seal the match for VCU.
Moik’s performance against Campbell helped earn her the title of Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Co-player of the Week.
This past Friday, the women’s team traveled to Fairfax, Va. to take on new Atlantic 10 opponent George Mason. VCU left northern Virginia with two goals from Courtney Conrad and a 5-1 victory.
The Rams also faced Elon at home on Sunday, but a result was not final as of press time.
Next up for VCU is an Oct. 5 road match against A-10 foe Massachusetts. The Rams will then play Fordham on Oct. 11 and La Salle on Oct. 13 at home before traveling to Duquesne on Oct. 18.