October 24, 2008

RAMS SET TO HOST HOFSTRA, NORTHEASTERN IN CRUCIAL HOME WEEKEND
Black and Gold looking to lock up spot in CAA Tournament
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RICHMOND, Va. – With only three games left in the 2008 campaign, the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s soccer team is looking to lock up a spot in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament as it gets set to host Hofstra and Northeastern in a pivotal home conference weekend at VCU’s Sports Backers Stadium.

The Black and Gold sit in sixth place with a conference record of 4-3-1 and an overall mark of 8-7-1, while Hofstra enters the weekend in first place at 6-1-1 in CAA play and Northeastern is nipping at VCU’s heels with a 4-4 mark in conference action.

Since its inception to the CAA, the Rams have never missed postseason play and have appeared in the championship game in four of the past five seasons.

The senior tandem of Stephanie Power (Darmouth, Nova Scotia) and Megan Flanagan (Franktown, Colo.) (right) has been the offensive force for the Black and Gold combining for 10 goals and 17 assists. Earlier this year, Flanagan became the school’s all-time leading assister and now sits with 26 in her career.

Sophomore Laurel Pastor (Springfield, Va.) has been the goal scoring source of late for VCU with a team-leading seven goals on the year. Pastor has been outstanding of late scoring four of the Rams’ past five goals.

Friday night’s contest with the visiting Pride will be a rematch of last year’s thrilling CAA Championship contest, a game that Hofstra scratched by with a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

The Rams have only met Northeastern on three occasions in school history, all three times resulted in victories for the Black and Gold. VCU has outscored the Huskies 6-1 in those three contests.

Hofstra will visit Sports Backers on Friday evening for a 7 p.m. contest against the Rams, while Northeastern comes to town for a 1 p.m. match-up on Sunday afternoon.