The Basics

• Score: VCU 1, UMass 1 
• Records: VCU (4-7-2, 1-0-1 A-10), UMass (1-9-1, 0-1-1 A-10) 
• The Short Story: Playing on the road in conference is always difficult, but the VCU men's soccer team came away with a tie against UMass on Saturday afternoon, after dominating the possession battle and just missing a couple of tap-in opportunities that would have changed the game. Senior forward Jose Manel scored the Rams' goal on the day, his third of the season. 

How it Happened:

• The Rams were without their usual starting goalkeeper Garrett Cyprus after he earned a red card in Wednesday's match with Maryland. Freshman Pierre Gardan made the first start of his collegiate career.
• Gardan performed admirably, making four saves and only allowing the one goal, from UMass defenseman Matt Keys in the 17^th minute.
• Manel's goal came in the second half. In the 59^th minute, he found a loose ball just in front of the net and put it away for his third goal of the season.
• VCU outshot UMass on the day 20-13, firing nine shots on the goal on the afternoon, forcing the UMass keeper to make six saves in the second half. 

Quotable:

• "Any time you play on the road in the A10, it is going to be a challenge. Combine that with not finishing chances and games can become very tough. I was very disappointed that we conceded a goal way against the run of play, but did well to get that one back. Then, as the game wore on, I thought UMass fought very hard and out worked us after we didn't score some of our tap ins to simply finish the game. In the end, you can't always control how many chances it takes to get the goal, as much as you can control working and playing for each other and keeping the pressure on the opposition while giving nothing away.  Today, we gave too much away as the game went on and could have gotten pinched, but by the same token, we could have easily won by 6 or 7 goals. As we shift into conference games, we have to understand what the challenges are going to be and what we have to do to grind out results, especially when the ball isn't easily flying in the goal." -Head coach Dave Giffard

Up Next:

• VCU returns home this upcoming Friday, October 17 for a home game against Fordham at 5 pm. The Rams will also play at Sports Backers on Sunday, October 19 against La Salle at 1 pm. Friday's game will be the first in a double header with the VCU women's soccer team, with the second game taking place at 7:30 against Richmond.