VCU women’s field hockey take home first Atlantic 10 win against Davidson

Emma Schirmer, Contributing Writer 

The Rams started their Atlantic 10 conference season off with a 2-1 win against Davidson College Wildcats in a closely contested game. 

This win marks VCU’s ninth win in a row against Davidson, as they came into this game with a eight-game winning streak against the Wildcats, according to VCU Athletics. 

VCU head coach Stacey Bean said she thought the girls showed good resilience throughout the game, especially after their 2-0 loss to St. Joseph’s University last friday. 

“Any team that wants to be good and qualify for championships has to win their conference home games,” Bean said. “So we really have to take care of business at home, and today we’ve helped position ourselves well.”

The first quarter of the game passed mostly uneventfully, but with the black and gold maintaining strong possession for the majority of it and making multiple attempts on goal,  according to Statbroadcast.

In the 11th minute, VCU senior forward Skylar Padgett ran between the defenders and took a shot that ultimately ended in a save from Davidson’s goalkeeper.

Padgett said that coming into conference play this was a big game for them to bring home a win, but also for her with her family in the crowd, getting her fired her up. 

“I definitely think that today was really important to me, especially because my sister is here before she deploys, so that gave me a lot of energy,” Padgett said. 

After mostly back-and-forth play in the second quarter, the Rams and Wildcats ended the first half in a tie of 0-0. 

Each team had made moves towards the goal and chances with penalty corners, but neither had been able to get past the other’s defense despite their aggressive playstyle. 

At the beginning of the second half the tempo increased and after a series of passes, VCU sophomore midfielder Morena Macera scored the first goal of the game.

Macera said that the team is always looking for chances to get low and get corners, so they can build opportunities. 

“We go in with the mindset that we have to beat this,” Macera said. “In this match we had a lot of possession, so I think that we really deserve it and I go with that mindset: that we deserve it and we have to go and look for it.” 

With the Rams on the scoreboard, Davidson went on the attack and had a couple shots on goal. 

Both of the teams maintained their momentum and created space for their players to make strategic plays, but the Wildcats weren’t able to even the score in the third quarter. 

Throughout the final half, VCU was mainly focused on keeping their lead and running out the clock with a series of passing sequences. 

Late into the fourth quarter, with only two minutes left on the clock, Davidson managed to put in a goal, making it 1-1 and sending the game into sudden victory overtime. 

Bean said that when going into overtime they take a lot of players off the field, it’s just six plus a goalie, so there’s a lot of real estate. 

“We want to take advantage of the opportunities we do have to get the biscuit in the basket,” Bean said. 

The black and gold’s opportunity did come late into the ten minute overtime period, when VCU junior Luisa Fasold got the golden goal, ending the game 2-1. 

Even though the Rams won today, they are always improving and practicing to make more opportunities for themselves on the field in the future, Macera said. 

“I like making goals,” said Marcera, “I like winning, if I have an option to give someone else who is in a better position, I will give it to them, because I want to win.” 

The VCU Rams will play University of Massachusetts at Cary Street Field on Friday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m.