This post was written by contributing sports editor Mark Eisenhauer.
Women’s soccer came up empty Saturday night in a 1-0 shutout to Virginia Commonwealth in a battle for sole possession of second place in the Atlantic 10 standings.
The loss snaps the Colonials’ three-game winning streak.
“In the first 10 or 15 minutes, we hit the post and had another good chance-in behind the keeper, and I think that woke [VCU] up,” head coach Sarah Barnes said. “They really started pressing hard and running at us and throwing numbers forward, and we were really just on our heels after that.”
VCU senior Jackie Ernest had the lone goal of the match, when after a slew of passes, she was able to put a shot past redshirt freshman Miranda Horn in the 24th minute.
Despite early pressure from GW, the Rams had the edge in the first half, outshooting the Colonials 15-5. After three early shots in the half by the Colonials, the goal by the Rams seemed to smother any momentum GW had. The Colonials never recovered as the game progressed.
“We just didn’t do a good enough job of keeping the ball, and when we did win it we gave it right back to them and they’d come right back at us,” Barnes said. “They were just really pumped up and very aggressive.”
VCU continued to press and keep GW’s opportunities to a minimum in the second half. The Rams ended the game outshooting the Colonials 18-6. VCU also took 10 more corner kicks than GW in the game.
The usual offensive weapons for the Colonials were shut down by a stifling Rams defense. Sophomore forward MacKenzie Cowley, the team’s leading scorer, played 52 minutes and never mustered a single shot, while junior midfielder Kristi Abbate managed just one attempt.
“We got those chances early, but when they started to press us we just didn’t have enough composure to just keep possession of the ball,” Barnes said. “That has been an ongoing problem for us in previous games, but the difference was in previous games, when we had a really good look, we finished it. In this game we didn’t do that.”
Horn, who earned her second A-10 Rookie of the Week award of the season on Monday, made three saves in the match.
Heading into their final two games of the regular season, Barnes and the team said they know exactly what to work on to get back on the right track before the next game.
“We’ve got to be better at keeping the ball, we’ve got to be better tactically and when we are under pressure, finding the open player. When we do that we create chances and score goals,” Barnes said.
The Colonials will play their final home game Friday against Dayton at 3 p.m.
