November 6, 2008

RAMS SEASON COMES TO CLOSE WITH 1-0 LOSS TO NORTHEASTERN
Dykstra tallies seven saves in final game with the Rams
Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Commonwealth University men’s soccer team gave it their all, but in the end the Rams just couldn’t catch a break. VCU saw its 2008 campaign come to a close with a 1-0 loss to Northeastern in Colonial Athletic Association men’s soccer action at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium on Thursday evening.

The Black and Gold finish the season with a mark of 8-8-2 overall and 4-5-2 in conference play, while the Huskies improve to 7-4-7 on the year and 5-2-4 in CAA action.

Prior to the start of the game, the Rams honored their five seniors for the countless dedication and hard work put forth for the men’s soccer program. Andrew Dykstra (Woodbridge, Va.) (right), Dirk Dittrich (Stuttgart, Germany), David Rosenbaum (Washington, D.C.), Ryan MacArthur (Poquoson, Va.) and Joey Lyonnais (Fredericksburg, Va.) all saw their careers come to a close.

Dykstra made sure to leave it all on the field as he made diving stop and diving stop in the first 45 minutes with Northeastern out shooting the Rams, 11-9, and forcing the veteran to make six first-half saves.

VCU came out aggressive in the second half and pounded Husky goalkeeper Scott Partridge with 13 shots.

The Rams nearly grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the 78th minute as Rosenbaum sped through the Northeastern defense and sent a beautiful cross through the box to sophomore Ole Laabs (Bremen, Germany), whose header bounced off the far post as the score remained tied at 0-0.

Alexander Volk changed the momentum of the contest as he grabbed a loose ball and launched a high shot from just inside the midfield line over a drawn out Dykstra and into the back of the net to give Northeastern a 1-0 advantage with under nine minutes to play in the contest.

It marked the fourth straight game the Huskies have tallied a goal in the final 10 minutes of play.

A few last minute efforts by the Rams were turned away by a tough Northeastern defense as the horn sounded with the scoreboard reading 1-0 in favor of the Huskies.

VCU out shot their opponent for the second straight game, this time by margin of 22-15. Juniors Otavio De Luca (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Thomas Huepper (Olpe, Germany) led the way with five and four, respectively.

Dykstra finished the night with seven saves and concluded his career ranked second in school history in shutouts (18), minutes played (6,601) and games started (71).