DeLand, Fla. - Stetson (2-3-0) fell 3-0 to visiting Virginia Commonwealth (2-1-1) Friday night at the Stetson Soccer Complex. The Hatters are now 0-2-0 all-time against the Rams. The first time the two teams met resulted in 3-1 win for VCU on its home field in 2006.
In tonight's game VCU finished with a 21-4 advantage in shots and had seven corner kicks to just one for Stetson. The Rams jumped out to a two-goal advantage in the first half and then added one more tally in the second.
"Five games into this season we have not found a way to play with heart and passion. Unless we can find some heart it is going to be a long season", said Stetson head coach Julie Orlowski. "If you play with heart you can overcome a lot of things. It doesn't matter how talented you are if you don't have heart."
"Crossley Simmons played a fantastic game, Katie Bitetto played a great game but at this level you can't count on two players to provide your heart. We've got to get back that heart we have had in the past, we just don't have it right now", she added.
One positive note on the game was the solid play of Stetson goalkeeper Andrea Garavaglia (Webster Groves, Mo.). She was tested all night. VCU peppered her with 14 shots on goal and she came away with 11 saves.
"Credit to Andi, even though they scored three goals, she to me was one of the best players on the field. She made a lot of very good saves, she organized in front of her well, she made a lot of situations that were dangerous look easy, and she kept us in the game for a while", said Orlowski.
Tessa Gavilsky (Granite City, Ill.), Alexis Hermosa (Orlando, Fla.), Corutney Jenista (Pensacola, Fla.) and Jennifer Raneri (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) each had a shot with Gavilsky's and Raneri's targeted on goal.
Sunday Stetson will travel to Tampa to take on USF at 1:00 p.m. It will be the first of six consecutive road games before the Hatters return home to take on Kennesaw State on October 1 at 7:00 p.m.
"Big test against USF Sunday", said Orlowski. "One good thing about playing like this on Friday is that you have a chance at immediate redemption on Sunday. Unlike our loss at Florida State, we have a quick turnaround and a chance to redeem ourselves."
