University of Richmond Athletics
Women's Soccer Falls 2-0 to the VCU Rams
09/26/2005 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2005
Richmond, Va. - The University of Richmond women's soccer team faced up to its city rival, VCU on Monday night at the Sports Backers Stadium. The Spiders ended the rainy match with a 2-0 deficit.
The Rams out shot the Spiders 7-2 in the first half with Spider goalie Kelly Kolker (McLean, Va.) coming up with 3 saves compared to Lauren Hardison's 1 save. The Spiders held off the Rams offense for the majority of the half, but with just four minutes left in the half, VCU's sophomore Pernilla Jansson found the back of the net. Jansson, unassisted, took a strike from just outside the 18 yard line that Richmond keeper Kelly Kolker couldn't reach, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead over the Spiders.
The Spiders headed into the second half trailing by one goal, but the Spiders did not give up. Playing hard and connecting pass after pass, the Spiders put the pressure on the Rams' defense but just could not find the back of the net. With only minutes left in the game, VCU's Jansson scored her second goal of the match when she dribbled through the Spiders' defense and slid the ball past Richmond's keeper, giving the Rams a 2-0 edge over the Spiders.
Richmond Head Coach Peter Albright was proud of the way his team played, but realizes that there is certainly room for improvement. "We are not dangerous enough-we need to create more scoring opportunities and stop being forced to defend so much (although he does credit his backs, especially Kolker, for their defensive effort). Despite the outcome, I am proud of the way we played, especially in the second half. We have a lot of learning going on out there and players getting time without a lot of experience. VCU is a veteran team; they are physically stronger and it showed tonight," stated Albright.
The Spiders entered the VCU match coming off a big 1-1 tie with then ranked No. 20 West Virginia and a 9-0 loss to Virginia a week earlier. With over a full week off to regain composure, the Spiders played hard but were just unable to convert any of their scoring opportunities into goals.
The Rams, now 3-3-3, came into Monday's match off of a 2-0 victory over Colonial Athletic Association rival No. 7 James Madison this past Saturday
This contest marked the tenth time that the Rams and Spiders have faced each other. Despite Monday's loss, the Spiders continue to lead the all-time series, 6-3-1, including victories the past two years. Richmond earned a 2-1 triumph over VCU in last year's contest at First Market Stadium after Whitney Sikes scored the game-winning goal in the last minute of the contest.
Richmond freshman Jessie Wolfe (Germantown, Md.) currently leads the Spiders in both points and goals, with three goals to her name. Sophomores Carrie Holland (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Ali LeVIne (Avon, N.J.) trail Wolfe with two goals each and senior Susan Darrah (Morrison, Colo.) and sophomore Christine Wrublesky (Langhorne, Pa.) each follow with one game-winning goal.
The Spiders, now 2-5-2, will begin their conference play this weekend starting on Friday when they hit the road to Duquesne followed by a trip to St. Louis on Sunday.
