Drew Clements, Staff Writer
The VCU field hockey season came to an end Thursday afternoon, as the Rams lost 2-1 in overtime to the University of Richmond after a battle in the Atlantic 10 semifinal.
Richmond captured momentum early in the game, earning a penalty corner in the first minute. Richmond controlled possession for most of the first quarter, scoring in the 11th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
The second quarter went back and forth, with neither team able to break through on the attack. The only action was a Richmond shot saved by redshirt third-year goalkeeper Emma Clements. The Rams entered halftime down 1-0.
“A goldfish has a six second memory,” Clements said. “I wrote it on my arm. I let myself have no more than six seconds to think about a goal, mistake or whatever it is. After six seconds is over it doesn’t matter anymore.”
VCU applied more pressure in the third quarter, with both teams blocking and saving multiple shots. In the 38th minute VCU earned their first penalty corner of the game, and third-year Lucia Donati passed to first-year Julia Spohr, who scored to even up the match at 1-1.
After a VCU green card was issued to begin the fourth quarter, Richmond took advantage by forcing seven consecutive penalty corners. The Rams successfully defended each attempt. Clements led the defensive effort with five saves, finishing with nine total.
The game remained tied 1-1 after regulation and went to overtime, where possession went back and forth until Richmond earned two consecutive corners. After two more saves by Clements, Richmond fourth-year Clara Larripa found the back of the net, securing the 2-1 victory for the Spiders, and ending the Rams’ season. Richmond outshot VCU 20-1.
Despite the loss, VCU head coach Stacey Bean said she is optimistic about her team’s future.
“One of our players said it best, [second-year] Emily Foerster, she said we should be proud because we played the game we wanted to play and we stuck together from start to finish,” Bean said. “For her to step up leadership wise in front of this group and say that, and be really eloquent with her teammates, it was a sign of good things to come.”