What’s going on Ram Fans?! VCUSports.com is back with a new docket for the week of November 5th! On the docket for the next 7 days features Men’s Soccer prepping for the A-10 Tournament, Men’s & Women’s Basketball “officially” starting and A-10 Tourney results plus some interesting match-ups coming! Enough for this intro, let’s see what’s on the docket this week!
VCU Men’s Soccer: Sequeira Saves Rams! 👐
Sports Backers Stadium hosted VCU Men’s Soccer A-10 Quarterfinal on Sunday with the top-seeded Rams facing #8 Massachusetts. After regulation and overtime, the match was decided on penalty kicks to see who would advance to the A-10 Semi-Finals in Saint Louis. Mario Sequeira came up BIG in goal for the Rams to deny UMass in the 5-4 penalty shootout victory.
After a challenging duel from a worthy adversary in UMass, VCU Men’s Soccer now prepares for #4 Rhode Island. The Rams from up North defeated #5 Fordham 2-0 at home. Stavros Zarokostas and Tyler Dickson were the goal scorers for Rhody.
VCU will be in the works on making their fourth straight trip to the Atlantic 10 title game over the weekend. The Rams historically come up short in the final match going 0-3 in the A-10 Final. VCU crave the chance to break their A-10 Championship curse and win it for the first time in school history. In order to make it to Championship Sunday, they must be victorious in a Battle of the Rams on Friday at Hermann Stadium.⚽️
A-10 Men’s Soccer Semi-Final
Friday, November 9th: #1 VCU vs. #4 Rhode Island (2 PM EST, 💻: ESPN+)
A-10 Men’s Soccer Championship
Sunday, November 11th at 1 PM EST, 💻: ESPN+
VCU Field Hockey: The Saga Continues
It was finally time. The A-10 Field Hockey Tournament arrived in Philadelphia and VCU Field Hockey went to war for the crown as the #2 seed. VCU made their first trip to the A-10 Championship match in a dramatic 3-2 win in double overtime over #3 Massachusetts. The Rams left it all on the Field (Literally) in the A-10 Semi-Final to advance to Championship Saturday.
Awaiting VCU was #1 Saint Joseph’s to fight for the A-10 Title. VCU was smothered by the Hawks and could not break through against the #10 nationally ranked collegiate field hockey team. Saint Joseph’s hoisted their second consecutive A-10 Championship in a 1-0 victory on their home turf.
Representing the Black & Gold on the Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team was Sasha Elliott, Litiana Field, Emily McNamara, Shannon Pereira, and Maite Sturm. 👏👏
While the season didn’t end with some silverware, VCU Field Hockey once again had another great season. The Black & Gold tide is still riding upward as the Rams finished 12-7 overall and 7-1 in A-10 Play. This is the second consecutive season that VCU has collected more than 10 wins.
One shining senior that will be missed next season is Emily McNamara. McNamara owns the VCU’s single-season record for goals (27) and points (57). The senior Ram out of Centreville, Virginia scored the most career goals ever by a VCU Ram with 75.
Head coach Stacey Bean has brought a winning culture to VCU Field Hockey in only her second season at the helm. After leading her team to the A-10 Title game, VCU heads into the off-season working on bringing the school’s first A-10 championship home.🏑
👏Cheers To The Seniors 👏
Hannah Fox, Lauren Kaup, Jessica Mays, and Emily McNamara
VCU Women’s Soccer: A Harsh End To A Great Season
Dayton, Ohio was the home of the Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Tournament this season and VCU Women’s Soccer roared to Baujan Field on a 5 match winning streak. #2 VCU would make a return trip to the A-10 Championship with a thrilling 2-1 win over #3 Saint Joesph’s in A-10 Semi-Finals.
#1 Saint Louis spoiled any chance of VCU taking the A-10 Championship with a 5-1 shellacking in the title match. Everything went the Billikens way including a hat-trick by Maddie Pokorny. Ingrid Brouwer scored the lone goal for VCU in the 74th minute of the match.
That ending was not fitting to the season that VCU Women’s Soccer had on the pitch. The Rams finished 2018 at 16-4 overall and 9-1 in the A-10 while making their second consecutive trip to the A-10 Title Game. Even though their goal coming into this season was to hoist the A-10 Championship in victory, the Rams fell short to a solid SLU team. Those 16 victories are also the most in a single season in program history for VCU Women’s Soccer.
There are some talented Rams as seniors that laced up their boots for the final time. From Kelly Graves and Julia Suarez scoring golazos to Maddi Santo creating and finishing chances from midfield. And don’t forget the stifling defense of Brittany Beckwith and Stephanie Stahl. Thank you for representing the Black & Gold proudly ladies.⚽️
👏Cheers To The Seniors 👏
Brittany Beckwith, Kelly Graves, Maddi Santo, Stephanie Stahl, and Julia Suarez
VCU Volleyball: History Then Misery
The weekend started well for VCU Volleyball in the Nation’s Capital. VCU swept George Washington 3-0 where the Colonials kept it close for two sets then VCU hammered the nail in GW with a 25-14 win in Set 3. Tori Baldwin collected three blocks in the match to become the first Ram in school history to reach 5⃣0⃣0⃣ career blocks!
George Mason flipped the script on VCU in Fairfax with a 3-0 sweep over the Rams. Saturday in Fairfax was not kind to the Black & Gold as the Patriots held A-10’s league-leading defense to only six blocks on the day. Mason broke VCU’s 13-match winning streak and handed the Rams their first A-10 defeat since 2016.
Heading into the last week of the regular season, VCU Volleyball looks to shake that loss off while maintaining composure with the A-10 Tournament on the horizon. The A-10 standings still look golden for VCU in first place with one more conference match left to be played.
| TEAM | RECORD |
| VCU | 12-1 |
| Dayton | 10-2 |
| La Salle | 9-3 |
| George Mason | 8-4 |
VCU starts the week with a match versus High Point on Wednesday inside the Siegel Center. The Panthers are on a 12 match winning streak and recently clinched the number 1 seed for the Big South Tournament.
Following that round of fireworks is VCU’s final A-10 conference match versus Davidson. The Wildcats (5-8, 6th in A-10) have lost their last 4 matches and need a win to lock up the final spot in the A-10 Tournament. 🏐
Wednesday, November 7th: VCU vs. High Point (6 PM, Siegel Center)
Saturday, November 10th: VCU vs. Davidson (5 PM, Siegel Center)
VCU Men’s Basketball: These Games Count!
Time to get serious. VCU Men’s Basketball officially begins the 2018-19 season on Tuesday night at the Siegel Center. Even though Ram fans would have loved the 87-41 exhibition victory over Virginia-Wise to count, the next two games will be in the VCU record book.
VCU faces Gardner-Webb University to start the season inside the Sigel Center. The Runnin’ Bulldogs of the Big South finished last year at 14-18 overall. Returning to the ranks is David Efianayi who led GWU with 17.5 PPG. Efianayi also led the Runnin’ Bulldogs with 40 steals last season. DJ Laster also returns to the paint for GWU as their leading rebounder (5.4 RPG, 172 total rebounds).
Friday night at the Stu is VCU Homecoming mixed with the start of the Legends Classic versus Hampton. The Pirates had a good year finishing 19-16 and falling just short of North Carolina Central in the MEAC Basketball Championship. Hampton got invited to the National Invitational Tournament and faced-off with Norte Dame in South Bend.
Two opponents that could give the Rams problems if not too careful. However, if the exhibition is considered a preview of what’s to come for VCU…look out and prepare accordingly.🏀
Tuesday, November 6th: VCU vs. Gardner-Webb (7 PM, Siegel Center) (TV: MASN, ESPN+)
Legends Classic – Richmond Regional
Friday, November 9th: VCU vs. Hampton (7 PM, Siegel Center) (TV: MASN, ESPN+)
VCU Women’s Basketball: Let The Season Begin!
Last season for VCU Women’s Basketball was a grueling year on the program battling injuries throughout the roster and finishing at 7-22 overall. Heading into the 2018-19 season, VCU is not looking in the rearview and has adjusted accordingly in preparation for their season opener at William & Mary.
Scanning through the ranks and at first glance VCU Women’s Basketball has a lot of height. With five of their players at 6’0 and higher, the Rams can work on having a constant presence in the paint in the fight for rebounding control. Returning talent like Jailyn Maddox and Tera Reed can help score in bunches and put VCU back in working conditions.
Two new faces will make their debuts as VCU Rams. Lauryn Thompson is a forward out of Texas that loves to score and rebound from Mansfield Timberview High School. Out of Belarus is Kseniya Malashka with plenty of U18 European Championship experience as the MVP. Malashka averaged 20.5 points, 14.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.8 blocks over 8 games during the U18 European Championships. 👀👀
VCU gets their 2018-19 season underway at Williamsburg versus the Tribe. Following that is a home game inside the Siegel Center versus Longwood University. 🏀
Tuesday, November 6th: VCU at William & Mary (7 PM)
Friday, November 9th: VCU vs. Longwood (11 AM, Siegel Center)
Annnndddd that’s all on the Docket for the week of November 5th, 2018. Salute to VCU Field Hockey and Women’s Soccer on great 2018 seasons! Good luck to Men’s Soccer in the Show-Me State for their A-10 Tournament journey and Volleyball and Men’s Basketball defending the Siegel Center this week.
Daily Reminder: Like on Facebook, A Follow on Twitter and 💓 from here to you. Stay tuned to VCUSports.com because there’s a handful of recaps hitting the front page this week! Go Rams! #LetsGoVCU 🐏
