It was the second shutout of the night for soccer, and the second consecutive Friday shutout for the men, as the VCU Rams defeated the Northeastern Huskies 2 – 0. The goals were scored within the first 20 minutes of the game in what is best described as 3 minutes of madness. The Huskies barely had time to recover from the first goal scored by #11 Kharlton Belmar when #18 Devon Fisher followed up with the second goal less than 3 minutes later. For anyone who watched the world cup this past summer, that may seem like an amazing accomplishment as some games at the pro-level could go the entire 90 minutes without a single goal for either team.
As usual the Rams started off with a burst of energy and went on the offensive attack. They got after it and sent 7 first half shots at the Husky net. The Rams would have 12 shots over the course of the night with 7 on goal. In comparison the Huskies would only take 5 shots the entire game with 4 on goal. Northeastern’s inability to score had their coach fired up and yelling from the sidelines, which was clearly ineffective in rallying his team.
In the post game interview Fisher was enthusiastic about his goal and the victory, but was aware of the quick turn around with the upcoming Sunday match against North Carolina. He gave simple responses to how they needed to prepare which included rest and “stay humble and focus on our game”. It was clear from Coach Giffard’s remarks that he doesn’t want the team to take for granted there are opportunities and lessons to be taken from the game. “The game gets a lot easier when you score goals…I don’t think we had a great performance.” The emphasis was on each game being unique and a message of not becoming complacent because every opponent offers different challenges. Coach Giffard reminded us “Wins aren’t easy. You have to work awfully hard to deserve to win and you got to earn the right to play.” Wise words that align with Robby Robinson’s most frequent tweet “Stay hungry, stay humble.” Take the win, but remember it’s a process and that means you don’t settle – you move the bar higher.
