Benney Koch, Staff Writer
VCU men’s soccer fell to Fordham University 2-1 on Saturday at the VCU Athletic Village in its Atlantic-10 home opener. The loss drops the Rams to 0-2 in A-10 play.
VCU controlled much of the possession throughout the match and outshot Fordham 11-10, but the Rams struggled to turn their control of possessions into goals. VCU had four corner kicks compared to Fordham’s one, but Fordham held the advantage in shots on goal, 3-2.
Fordham opened the scoring in the 17th minute when a wind-aided shot made its way into the back corner of the net. Fordham struck again in the 68th minute to gain a 2-0 lead.
Just 52 seconds later VCU responded when fourth-year defender Pedro Salmon scored his first goal as a Ram. Salmon headed in a corner kick from fourth-year midfielder Andrey Salmeron, his first assist of the season.
Salmon had a strong performance beyond his goal, contributing defensively while also creating opportunities for his teammates. A group of supporters from Salmon’s home country of Spain attended to watch his first goal for VCU.
“I didn’t know there were people from my country in this city,” Salmon said. “It’s nice to have them here supporting me. I really appreciate it.”
The Rams continued to push for an equalizer after Salmon’s goal. VCU added three shots in the remaining minutes but was unable to find another goal, while Fordham did not record another shot after taking its 2-0 lead.
Salmon said the team’s focus in practice will shift toward defending after spending last week working on attacking in the final third.
Despite the result, head coach Dave Giffard said the team’s ability to control the game and create opportunities continues to show progress.
“You probably had four, five balls that either rolled across in front of us or came right to a guy – that were probably better looks than we’ve had in these games so far and today none of those were taken,” Giffard said. “I thought as the game wore on … the details in the box that we spent time on this week weren’t there.”
Giffard said the loss is difficult for the team, but he does not believe the players lack the effort or commitment necessary to improve. He also noted that several players who had previously been playing around 20 to 25 minutes were forced to play the full 90 minutes because of the team’s ongoing injuries.
“It’s disheartening because you want outcomes to go the way you want them to go,” Giffard said. “So we regroup, we rest. We played guys who we’ve been playing 20 minutes a half and we played some of those guys the whole game.”
The Rams have now lost five consecutive games and three straight by one goal. With six A-10 matches remaining, Giffard said the team still has time to turn possessions into results before the conference season reaches its decisive stages.
The Rams will travel to Dayton on Saturday, Oct. 3, for a 7 p.m. match before returning to the Athletic Village on Oct. 7 to face George Washington.