Women’s soccer on midseason tear

Brandon Ramon
Contributing Writer

After a 1-4 start, the VCU women’s soccer team has put together a nine-game undefeated streak from Sept. 8 through Oct. 18. The stretch includes seven victories, two draws and an impressive 19-5 scoring differential.

The Lady Rams are now 8-4-2 on the year and 3-0-1 in conference play.

The most recent extension of VCU’s streak came this past Friday when the Lady Rams topped Duquesne on the road by a score of 1-0.

Senior Casey Boyer’s first career goal came at an opportune time and broke a scoreless tie just two minutes into the second half. VCU was outshot 12-3 overall, but only 5 of Duquesne’s 12 shots were on target. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Emma Kruse stopped all five shots that came her way.

The win came on the heels of a 2-2 draw against La Salle on Oct. 13, in which VCU squandered a 2-0 lead in a second half dominated by the Explorers.

Though VCU allowed its first goal in more than 200 minutes of play, the draw stretched VCU’s undefeated streak to eight games and pushed their conference record to 2-0-1 on the year.

On Oct. 11, the Lady Rams played their second A-10 match against Fordham. Head coach Lindsey Vanderspiegel’s club got off to a quick start when sophomore Jackie Ernest scored off of a corner kick just seven minutes into the game.

From there, the defense would do the rest. Fordham registered just two shots on goal the entire match, and VCU posted its second consecutive 1-0 victory.

After the game, Vanderspiegel was pleased with her team’s ability to make adjustments.

“We will take the win,” she told VCU Athletics. “It was not our finest performance, but the conditions played to a sloppy environment. We were forced to be a little more direct today, which isn’t exactly our style. We had to adapt.”

This past Sunday, the Lady Rams traveled to St. Bonaventure, but a result was not final as of press time.

Now with an overall record of 8-4-2, the Lady Rams look to carry their momentum into the final stretch of the season. VCU stands in second place in a very competitive A-10 conference and has three games remaining to secure its position as a top seed entering postseason play.

VCU will travel to George Washington University on Oct. 27 before returning home to take on in-state rival University of Richmond on Nov. 1. The Lady Rams will take on Saint Louis just two days later on Nov. 3 to round out the regular season.

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