September 20, 2009

RILEY, RAMS ROLL TO FOURTH STRAIGHT SHUTOUT IN 3-0 WIN OVER BUCKNELL
Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Current PGA Tour golfer Rocco Mediate was quoted during his improbable run at last year’s U.S. Open as saying “Any athlete knows, momentum is the most unstoppable force in sports.”

Well that’s a good sign for the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s soccer team, who picked up their fourth straight shutout in a 3-0 win over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon. The Rams (4-3-1) now head into Colonial Athletic Association action on Thursday at Towson with an unbeaten streak of four games.

“This is a great way to cap off our non-conference schedule and really gives us momentum heading into our conference games,” Co-Head Coach Tim Sahaydak said. “It was great to see a lot of our freshman and sophomore play well this weekend and have valuable game experience under their belts.”

Senior Jasmine Riley (Arlington, Va.) continues to add to her impressive start to the year, tallying two goals and an assist on the afternoon, while sophomore Heather Hovanesian (Centreville, Va.) (right) added her second goal of the weekend and third of the year.

Defense was the story of the first half, however, with neither team able to put together a solid scoring chance. Bucknell fired off six shots, but the Black & Gold defense and senior goalkeeper Kate Hudson (Clarksville, Md.) were able to keep them off the scoreboard.

The halftime speech must have been a good one as VCU wasted little time getting on the scoreboard thanks to Riley finding Hovanesian right in front of the goal to give the Rams a 1-0 advantage just three minutes into the second half.

Just four minutes later, Riley decided to take on the Bucknell defense by herself and she succeeded, scoring from 12 yards out to push the Black & Gold lead to 2-0.

A nice feed from freshman Ashley Grant (Nokesville, Va.) (left) led Riley to her second goal of the day with just 22 seconds left in the contest and put the exclamation point on the decisive 3-0 win.

“Bucknell really surprised us with the way they were playing in the first 45 minutes and it took us a while to adjust to their scheme,” Sahaydak said. “Once we adjusted on the defensive side to how they were playing, we were able to create some chances for us offensively.”

Hudson and the Rams defense limited the Bison to just nine shots on the afternoon, only two of which were on target. VCU’s shutout streak now sits at 388:28.

“It’s funny because so many times when shutouts happen, the back four or the goalkeeper are the people highlighted,” Sahaydak added. “While that is certainly true for us, it’s really been a team effort. All 11 players on the field for us have been excellent in our defensive strategy.”

The Black & Gold are back on the road this week as they open CAA play against the Tigers of Towson University on Thursday afternoon. Game time is set for 4 p.m.