NORFOLK, Va. – The Virginia Commonwealth University women's soccer team is using the back end of the 2010 season as one heck of a preview for next fall.

The Black & Gold picked up their second win in the past three games by coasting to a 2-1 victory over the Monarchs of Old Dominion University in Colonial Athletic Association action on Friday night.

"I'm thrilled about the way our girls played tonight," Co-Head Coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak said. "We wanted to come out and attack all night and that's exactly what we were able to do with two goals in the first 20 minutes. I'm proud of the way our team has stuck together and continued to come every day, ready to work."

After scoring just one goal in the first 730 minutes of conference play, VCU has now tallied seven goals in the past 220 minutes. Junior Azania has three of those goals, while sophomore Carly Edgcomb has three assists over that span.

"There isn't anything drastically different that we are doing on the offense side, I just think we're seeing a young team really starting to gel," Co-Head Coach Tim Sahaydak said. "Our attack has been the main focus of our training sessions and our girls are really executing the game plan right now."

The Rams jumped on ODU right from the start firing four shots and tallying three corners in the first 10 minutes.

VCU's pressure proved to be too much for the Monarchs in the 11^th minute, when Edgcomb split the defense on the right side and found freshman Jordyn Rolling. Rolling then fed classmate Taryn Cressy, who blasted a shot into the right corner of the net to give VCU a 1-0 advantage.  

Edgcomb would help the Rams extend that lead less than six minutes later when she lifted a pass from deep on the right side and found Azania, who ripped a shot from five yards out into the back of the net to push VCU's lead to 2-0.

ODU wouldn't go away easily, getting a goal back in the 32^nd minute when Kelly Evans fed Ashlee Coutu to cut the Black & Gold's advantage to 2-1.

That's when the stifling VCU defense would take over, allowing just four shots the rest of the night, only one of them on target as the Rams picked up their first win over the Monarchs since 2006.

While VCU finds themselves out of the CAA Tournament race, the Rams will wrap up this fall knowing they never went easily as all but one of their nine conference games have been decided by one goal or less.

"This team has battled and battled all fall, but unfortunately soccer can be a frustrating game," Roberts Sahaydak said. "Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes you don't. No matter what our girls have continued to come to training focused and we're seeing the dividends on nights like tonight."

The Black & Gold will return to action on Sunday when they head to Williamsburg for a 2 p.m. showdown with the Tribe of William & Mary.