Hold on to your hats Ram fans because this was one for the books…on second thought tip those hats!  The VCU Rams roared to life in a spectacular display of offensive dominance over the ODU Monarchs.  The visitors took an early advantage with a 7th minute goal as Jimmy Filerman sent the ball to CJ Taylor.  Taylor found the back of the net for the Monarch’s lone goal of the match.  A slick pitch created some extra ball changes early on but that all changed in the 26th minute.

Luc Fatton sparked scoring his first goal of the season courtesy of an assist from Jorge Herranz.  Not quite 3 minutes later Steven Dal Molin sent in a corner kick, and Fatton added his second goal off a header that sailed past goalie Alex Tiesenhausen.  Striking while the iron was hot the Ram offense completed a stunner as Herranz took a free kick, Dakota Barnathan picked it up and tapped it to Fatton who completed a HAT TRICK in 6 minutes!  The third goal also resulted in pile up inside the ODU net.  Fatton’s hat trick also carried the Rams into the break with the 3 – 1 advantage.

The Black and Gold confidently marched into the second half but ODU wasn’t ready to give up.  The Monarchs substituted goalies placing Christian Coulson in the net.  As the second half commenced ODU stepped up the intensity applying pressure and speed as they attempted to stop the advancing Rams.  Their efforts fell short as VCU once again dominated play adding not one, but two additional goals to the board.  At the 52nd minute Rafael Santos passed to Herranz who was wide open near the 18 and easily sent the ball into the net.  Santos followed up his assist with a goal of his own in the 72nd minute with a launch from nearly 40 yards to seal the 5 – 1 victory for VCU.

Prior to this the Rams scored 7 goals in 7 matches.  Pulling out all of the stops in this game they almost doubled their production in a single match.  VCU heads to St. Louis next to take on the Billikens in the first of two road games to wrap up their out of conference schedule.  The match against SLU kicks off at 8:30 pm on September 24th.

Pamela Loving

A founding member of 400 North Media LLC, Pamela was the original editor and primary contributor for VCUSports.com when it launched. She currently serves as communications liaison, videographer, and ad hoc contributor. During the day Pamela is a learning consultant for a Fortune 500 company. She's also an avid volunteer who works with several non-profits in Richmond and beyond.