Men’s soccer heartbreaking end
Men’s soccer’s five ties were the most since the 2012-13 season. That year, head coach Dave Giffard and his team were able to advance to the Atlantic 10 championships, finishing as runner-ups in the conference.
Kristin Dennis
Contributing Writer
Men’s soccer’s five ties were the most since the 2012-13 season. That year, head coach Dave Giffard and his team were able to advance to the Atlantic 10 championships, finishing as runner-ups in the conference. This year, the Rams hoped for the same result, but ran into a Fordham University team that was more than capable of ending their dreams.
“I thought it was a microcosm of the season,” Giffard said. “We created a ton of good chances and played very well and controlled the game, but couldn’t find the back of the net.”
The team’s six-game unbeaten streak put the team in position to enter the tournament as a No. 3 seed. However, in the midst of the six-game unbeaten streak, three games ended in a tie. Furthermore, the Rams were never able to find the back of the net in a single game more than three times. Offensive problems were aplenty for Giffard’s team, and in what would be the men’s soccer team’s final game of the season, those problems were exemplified.
“Soccer is a funny game sometimes and this year, for whatever reason, the ball just didn’t want to make its way into the back of the net,” Giffard said
After 110 minutes of play, the game had to be decided by penalty kicks. Each team would have five attempts, and the team that converted the most kicks after five tries would advance to the semifinal round. Both VCU and Fordham were successful in their first two attempts. Fordham responded with the next score, but VCU couldn’t match. After Fordham made their fourth of four shots, VCU hopes were kept alive with a made shot. In the end, junior goalkeeper Garrett Cyprus was unable to corral the ball in the fifth and final attempt and Fordham shocked the A-10 tournament host.
