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RAMS FALL TO NORTHEASTERN, 3-0, ON SENIOR DAY RICHMOND, Va. – The regular season is down to one game and the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s soccer team will need some help to get into the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. A 3-0 setback to Northeastern on Sunday at Sports Backers Stadium put the Rams in position of having to beat James Madison on Thursday at JMU to have a chance to get into the top six of the CAA standings. In addition, VCU needs Northeastern to lose its finale to Hofstra on Thursday at Hofstra. VCU fell to 4-5-1 in the CAA and 8-9-1 overall. Northeastern is 5-5, 9-8-1. The Rams fired 23 shots yesterday and had a 16-2 advantage in corner kicks. That’s almost four times their per-game average going into Sunday’s game. VCU had 10 corners in the first half. The Rams got six shots on goal but the Huskies were able to save all of them. Northeastern had seven shots and only three on goal. A trio of freshmen – Gabbi Jatkola, Veronica Napoli and Kelly Matthews – scored for Northeastern. All three goals were unassisted. Jatkola’s goal came at the 25:08 mark on a direct kick. Napoli scored at 47:52 and Matthews tallied the final goal of the day at the 69:39 mark. VCU had several good chances on the afternoon but either misfired or saw the Huskies’ Stephanie Gordon – another freshman – make the save. What was probably her best save came with 15 minutes to go, when VCU sophomore Laurel Pastor fired a blast from about 15 yards. Gordon leaped and batted the ball over the net and the Huskies were able to clear the ensuing corner kick. Before the game, the Rams honored eight seniors who were playing their final home game: Francesca Gioeli, Meg Khandan-Barani, Lauren Hardison, Kali Van Covern, Megan Flanagan, Michelle Schuler, Samara Stephen-Dowd and Stephanie Power (pictured). They also honored former player Lauren Malan for her continued support and dedication to the program. An injury cut short her playing career. If the Rams do make the CAA tournament, they will open play on the road. |
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