Tribe Men's Soccer Falls to VCU

Early goal holds up for Rams

10/10/03 6:46PM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary fell behind just over five minutes into the game on a goal by Matthew Delicate and could not get on the board, as the Rams held on for a 1-0 win over the 18th-ranked Tribe at Busch Field.

VCU had a bright start to the rainy day in Williamsburg, as Delicate won possession of the ball from a W&M defender and got open to fire a shot from just outside of the box into the top left corner of the goal at the 5:35 mark.

Just prior to Delicate’s goal, the Tribe (5-3-2, 0-1-0) had a scoring chance when senior Graham Albert (Williamsburg, VA) headed a ball just wide of the net off of a corner by sophomore Andreas Nydal (McLean, VA).

The Rams took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break, and had registered eight shots in the opening stanza, compared to just three for the Tribe. Rams forward Helmus Matute had a shot go wide in the ninth minute of action, while Matt Pauls hit the crossbar from 40 yards out in the 12th minute. In the 23rd minute, VCU’s McColm Cephas took a pass from Delicate and just missed it wide. Tribe goaltender Kris Rake (Flower Mound, TX) kept the margin at one goal in the 26th minute when Matute shot the ball but couldn’t get it past the outstretched Tribe keeper.

Despite the VCU opportunities, the Tribe was still just one goal away from tying things up. However, it wasn’t to be, despite a team-high four shots by senior Phil Hucles (Virginia Beach, VA), including a header in the 90th and final minute of play.

The Rams (7-4-0, 3-0-0 CAA) took 13 shots in the game, compared to seven for W&M. Rake finished with three saves, as did VCU keeper Saul Montero. W&M was whistled for 16 fouls, while VCU was cited 11 times by the officials.

W&M returns to action tomorrow night at Busch Field when it hosts UNC Wilmington at 7:00 PM.

Box Score