Men’s soccer surges to third in A-10

VCU Men’s Soccer (8-4-0, 5-1-0 A-10) traveled to Fairfax to face George Mason University (5-7-2, 0-5-1 A-10) Oct. 17 before taking on Saint Joseph’s University (3-9-4, 1-4-1 A-10) in Philadelphia Oct. 21. The Black and Gold came away with a pair of decisive victories to move up to third in the A-10.

St. Joseph’s

Despite back to back road games, the Rams did not miss a beat. The Black and Gold achieved  their seventh win in eight games with a 3-0 victory over the St. Joseph’s Hawks.

Freshman goalkeeper Mario Sequeira keeps turning heads. The Costa Rica native secured his sixth shutout this season off of two miraculous saves against the Hawks, moving him to second in the A-10 in goals saved.

In a back and forth first half, senior midfielder Luc Fatton got a couple of shots off, but was not able to find the back of the net. The Rams and Hawks went into the half tied at nil.

Siad Haji, a freshman forward from Manchester, New Hampshire, recorded an assist not long into the second half after finding Fatton running up the sideline. Fatton maneuvered behind St. Joseph’s back line and score the first goal of the night in the 49th minute, his seventh goal of the season. Fatton leads the team in points at 14.

A stalemate occurred for the next 20 minutes. Both teams produced chances, however, the VCU offense racked up seven shots compared to St. Joseph’s five.  

Fancy footwork from redshirt-senior midfielder Francesco Amorosino allowed the D.C. native to pass a would-be defender and chip a shot over the Hawks’ keeper, making it 2-0 for the Rams in the 79th minute. Senior defensive midfielder Steven Dal Molin started the play, helping Amorosino get his sixth goal of the season.

Japanese native and sophomore defender Ryo Shimazaki scored his second goal of the season less than a minute after Amorosino. In the 79th minute, Shimazaki’s shot went high and over a defender guarding the goal line into the top netting, making it 3-0.

VCU’s defense held the SJU Hawks to only 11 shots and two on goal. The Rams’ win over St. Joseph’s puts them at a commanding 5-1 in the A-10, good for third place behind the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (5-0-1) and George Washington University (5-2).  

George Mason

The Rams recorded the first of two conference road shutouts last week in Fairfax against the Patriots of GMU.

Keeping it consistent this week with a scoreless first half, the Rams and Patriots did have some tight calls in the first period, with seven shots by George Mason that required some assistance from Sequeira.

The second half flip-flopped in shooting from three shots by the Rams in the first to 12 minutes. George Mason only managed three against the VCU defense in a dramatic flipping of the first half script.

VCU opened the scoring on a penalty kick seven minutes into the second half. Brazilian senior midfielder Rafael Andrade Santos got VCU fans on their feet in the 52nd minute when his precision shot went right past the keeper’s hands and into the goal. Santos recorded his fifth goal of the season to put the Rams up 1-0.

A Shimazaki assist to Dal Molin got the Rams their second goal of the night in the 67th minute. The ball hit the crossbar and found its way to the back of the net.

Amorosino sliced a shot from 12 yards out to put the game away. The Black and Gold did not let up, however, as junior midfielder Lyndsey Moreland used his agility and persistence in a run up the right side of the field to cap the scoring at 4-0.

Men’s soccer will travel to College Park, Maryland to face the No. 3 University of Maryland (10-2-3) Terrapins Tuesday, Oct. 24. The Rams will have their last regular season home game Saturday Oct. 28 against the University of Rhode Island (8-4-3, 3-2-1 A-10). The A-10 tournament commences Nov. 4 in Dayton, Ohio.

Daniel Puryear

Contributing Writer