Photos & Game Summary: Rams Draw With Marshall

Official VCU Game Summary

Score: VCU 2, No. 4 Marshall 2
Location: Richmond, Va. / Sports Backers Stadium
Records: VCU (3-3-3, 0-0-1), Marshall (3-0-4)

THE SHORT STORY
VCU men’s soccer scored two shorthanded goals against nationally-ranked No. 4 Marshall on Wednesday night at home to battle back to a 2-2 draw with the Thundering Herd. The Rams challenged a man down for 66 minutes to extended their unbeaten streak to four games.

PITCH SIDE

• Mohammed Ibrahim had the game-tying goal for his third of the season
• Deniss Hayes scored his second goal of the year
• Maloney recorded a career-best six saves in the match, holding the top-24 scoring offense to a pair of goals
• The Rams were outshot 19-10, but held Marshall’s shot-on-goal advantage to just one, 8-7
• Theo Drennan was issued a red card in the 24^th minute for a serious foul play
• Both of VCU’s goals were scored shorthanded
• Marshall conceded two goals to a team outside the national top 12 for the first time this season
• Ibrahim and Nikita Hayes led the Rams with three shots and two shots on goal apiece

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Three shots were rattled off in the first ten minutes, in favor of VCU as Andres Rodriguez and N. Hayes kicked off the Rams’ offensive charge
• In the 24^th minute, Drennan received a red card and the Rams went down to 10 players
• D. Hayes opened the scoring in the contest just four minutes later, lifting a long ball over defenders and goalkeeper Eddie DeMarco to give the Rams a 1-0 lead
• With just 16 seconds remaining in the first half, Marshall netted the tying goal off a corner kick, poking a rebound to the far post for the 1-1 tie
• Marshall added a goal in the 51^st minute and the Rams answered off the boot of Ibrahim just eight minutes later
• Maloney made three more saves to hold off the ranked offense
• VCU continued to challenge the Herd, not allowing a shot taken in the final 12 minutes and inducing a pair of saves with shots of their own as VCU forced a 2-2 draw

QUOTABLE
“I was super proud of the guys for such a gritty performance tonight. To play that long down a man and to fight back after going down showed a ton of character and resiliency. This one is behind us now and we need to get recovered for what will be a really tough trip and game at Fordham this Saturday,” Head Coach Dave Giffard said.

UP NEXT
VCU will hit the road for its second conference matchup at Fordham on Saturday, Sept. 27, in Bronx, N.Y. at Jack Coffey Field.