October 25, 2009

DEPLETED RAMS FALL AT NORTHEASTERN, 3-1
Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. – It’s not a good thing when the most common used spot at a soccer facility is the training room.

Unfortunately that’s been the case for the Virginia Commonwealth University women’s soccer team this season as the depleted Black & Gold dropped its fifth straight game, 3-1, to the Huskies of Northeastern University on Sunday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association action.

“Actually, I thought we had a pretty good effort today,” Co-Head Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. “We had more opportunities on attack than we have been getting and once again our defense was pretty solid. It’s just tough with our depth situation because of the all the injuries. We’ve been forced to start some people who aren’t completely healthy themselves.”

On the year, the Black & Gold (6-10-2, 2-7-1 CAA) has had 12 players miss at least one game due to an injury or illness.

Northeastern (11-3-3, 5-1-3 CAA) would come out firing early with eight first-half shots, finally finding the back of the net when Devin Petta took a pass from Kristen Blake in the 41st minute and blasted a shot past senior goalkeeper Kate Hudson (Clarksville, Md.) to give the Huskies a 1-0 advantage at the half.

Liza Rebello wouldn’t wait long to keep the momentum on the Northeastern side as Blake set up her second goal of the game just 3:31 into the second half to push the lead to 2-0 in favor of the home team.

The two teams would settle into a back-and-forth contest with the Rams getting plenty of opportunities, most of them by senior forward Jasmine Riley (Arlington, Va.), who unleashed six shots in the contest.

Northeastern would try to put the nail in the coffin in the 88th minute when Rebello found Veronica Napoli to extend the lead to 3-0.

Riley would not let the Rams get shutout for the fifth straight game as she took a pass from Hartman off the kick off and sped through the Husky defense and rifled a shot past Northeastern goalkeeper Stephanie Gordon with less than a minute remaining in the contest.

“Jasmine was outstanding today,” Roberts Sahaydak added. “She created a lot opportunities with her athleticism and speed. Simply put, her goal was outstanding.”

The Rams will conclude their 2009 campaign with Senior Day on October 31st when they host the Dukes of James Madison in a 5 p.m. match-up.