VCU women’s soccer suffers nail-biting loss to No. 2 Stanford

Andrew McGhan, Contributing Writer

Nathaniel Semunegus, Contributing Writer

VCU women’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss to Stanford University on Thursday.

Stanford is ranked no. 2 in the country, according to the NCAA website.

The game was a defensive matchup with both teams putting in hard tackles to make sure no shot was on target.

There were lightning strikes during warmups, as a result of this the kickoff time was delayed until 9:50 p.m.

  “We were just waiting and this has happened to us before and we had to reschedule but we just really wanted to play tonight,” Bagley said.

Once the lighting strikes stopped soon the game was back on.

“So we were so excited that the lightning stopped and we’re able to get out here,” Bagley said. 

The team feels they are capable of playing against anyone, according to head coach Lindsey Martin. 

“The week was more just about being confident in who we are, because we know that we’re capable when we’re playing our best version of soccer,” Martin said. “So, of course, we got into the tactics and you know, our assistants did a great job with scouting report, etc. but it’’s really about just confidence and energy.”

VCU’s defense played hard in the first half, putting in hard challenges to try and win the ball, according to Bagley.

“I think our defense just stepping in front of every ball, playing fast, knowing when to play quick out of pressure and when we have time on the ball to play out,” Bagely said.

The only bad thing about the first half for VCU was letting Stanford score their first goal towards the end, according to Bagley.

“We held them that whole time,” Bagley said. “So that was just unfortunate to let it go like that late in the half.” 

At halftime, the team talked about playing with confidence and playing the ball to the wingers in transition, according to Martin.

“We really just talked about making sure our energy stayed high in the second half the way it was in the first half,” Martin said. “You know, we talked about transitional moments getting the ball in wide areas letting Kanna and ‘Ish’ [Milica Bulatovic] do their thing to get around the Stanford’s outside backs.”

VCU has alternated keepers over the past couple of games because they feel that they have two number one keepers, Martin said during the Old Dominion game.

VCU junior goalkeeper Allison Karpovich played the whole game due to Stevie Mika’s injury, according to Martin.

“Well Stevie took a hit a couple weeks back, just a knock, and she’s back training now,” Martin said. “I think Allison’s in a really great place right now as our number one and we felt like she did a good job in the first half and so we stuck with that in the second.”

Late in the game VCU junior defender Jordan Pieklo received a pass from redshirt senior midfielder Anna Bagley and scored a goal from outside of the box on the right side to tie the game at 1-1. 

Stanford was moving the ball down the field with seven minutes to go in the game. 

Stanford passed the ball up the left sideline to Stanford redshirt freshman forward Amalie who crossed the ball into the box for Stanford redshirt sophomore Andrea Kitahata to score, winning the game for Stanford.

VCU had a strong second half, slowing down the Stanford offense all until Kitahata’s goal near the end of the match, according to Martin

“I thought the goal we gave away was preventable,” Martin said. “Just a little bit unfortunate but I felt like we were able to again, be the best version of us. I think like in the game of soccer, you don’t put in a complete 90 minutes, and I felt like tonight we came pretty damn close.” 

She and the team were stoked to be able to play against a top five ranked team, Karpovich said. 

“We love to play big teams. We are making a name for ourselves. It is just any other game,” Karpovich said. “A win is a win. A game is a game. We come out and play hard for everyone.”

Though a tough loss against Stanford, VCU had played with a lot of confidence and high energy with the team continuing to have positive spirits moving forward. 

VCU’s next game will be on Sept. 14 against the University of Richmond at the Sports Backers Stadium.