October 31, 2009

RAMS FALL 4-0 ON SENIOR NIGHT TO JAMES MADISON
Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – Prior to the start of the game between Virginia Commonwealth University and James Madison, the women’s soccer program honored its six seniors for their countless hours of dedication, both on and off the field.

Unfortunately for the Rams, that was the highlight of the evening as the Dukes piled it on offensively and handed VCU its sixth straight loss, 4-0, in Colonial Athletic Association action.

“JMU is a tough team with a lot of fire power and we saw that tonight,” Co-Head Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. “Once again we saw how depth and injuries have really affected us, but hopefully we can come back next year in full health and make a run at the conference title.”

The Black & Gold wrap up the 2009 campaign with a 6-11-2 and a 2-8-1 mark in conference action, while the Dukes locked up the fourth and final spot in the CAA Tournament with a 10-7-2 overall record, 6-3-2 in CAA play.

Corky Julien came into the contest as the league’s second leading scorer and she showed why early on as she took a long pass from Corinna Strickland and blasted a shot from just outside the box into the top left corner to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead just 2:16 into the game.

Later in the half, Amalya Clayton got behind the VCU defense and deposited a pass from Cate Tisinger into the back of the net to extend the JMU advantage to 2-0 in the 21st minute.

Senior Jasmine Riley (Arlington, Va.) tried to set up the freshmen duo of Gabby Wilson (Woodbridge, Va.) and Ashley Grant (Nokesville, Va.) in consecutive possessions, but the Dukes defense held strong to keep the Rams off the scoreboard.

Julien would strike right before the half with her 14th goal of the season after a nice set up from Jess Remmes and Morven Ross to push JMU’s lead to 3-0 heading into the intermission.

Coming out of the break, the Black & Gold tried to rally thanks to a blast from freshman Lauryn Hutchinson (Sterling, Va.) that went high in the 48th minute and a nice scoring opportunity thanks to the senior duo of Amanda Adams (Salem, Va.) and June Hartman (Virginia Beach, Va.) (pictured left).

Julien and Tisinger combined to get Jessica Barndt on the score sheet and put the capper on the 4-0 Dukes victory.

The contest marked the final game in the collegiate careers of Riley, Adams, Hartman, Kate Hudson (Clarksville, Md.), Sarah McAulay (Midlothian, Va.) and Cara Howard (Newport News, Va.).

“Senior night is always a special, but tough night because these girls have given so much to our program,” Roberts Sahaydak added. “These girls in particular were outstanding ambassadors for VCU women’s soccer.”