Final Score: VCU 2, Liberty 1
Location: Lynchburg, Va. (Osborne Stadium)
Records: VCU 3-1-0, Liberty 0-3-0
 
The short story: A pair of well-worked team goals in the second half was enough to push VCU past Liberty in the first of four straight road matches.
 
QUICK FACTS

• Graduate forward Bri Kropinack scored her first goal as a Ram to put VCU on the scoreboard first.
• Senior forward Aileen Guthrie notched her second game-winning goal of the season.
• Both goal scorers for the Rams were substitutes in Sunday's match, highlighting VCU's attacking depth.
• Redshirt senior forward Samantha Jerabek and junior midfielder Anna Bagley registered assists on Kropinack's goal. Jerabek leads VCU with two assists on the young season, and is tied with Guthrie for the team lead in points (4).
• VCU out-shot Liberty 10-6, including a 6-3 margin in shots on goal.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jerabek registered the game's first shot on goal in the 10th minute, cutting in on her right foot and forcing a save at the near post.
• Sophomore forward Ella Higgins sprinted down the left flank in the 38th minute, but her effort sailed wide of the goal.
• Redshirt senior goalkeeper Grace Young made a tremendous save in the 41st minute with a full-extension dive to her right to deny a Liberty volley and keep the game scoreless.
• Young made another diving save in the 55th minute, pushing a Flames free kick off the post.
• The Rams opened the scoring three minutes later when Bagley played a through ball to spring Jerabek behind the Liberty back line. Jerabek cut along the end line and played a ball in to Kropinack, who took a touch at the top of the six-yard box and finished past the Liberty goalkeeper, Randi Palacios.
• VCU had two great scoring chances within moments of each other midway through the second half, with redshirt senior forward Lyndsey Gutzmer firing just over the bar after a skillful turn, and Kropinack rattling the corner of the goal frame from the left wing.
• The Rams doubled their lead in the 77th minute. Redshirt senior midfielder Emma Kershner played a through ball to a wide-open Guthrie, who had her first attempt blocked by a charging Palacios, but deposited the rebound into the open net.
• The Flames pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute when Maddy Oliver scored off Meredith King's cross.

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH LINDSEY MARTIN
"It was good to see our team bounce back after the Wake Forest loss on Thursday night. The task was tall facing a team on the road who had a full week of rest and under these hot conditions, but our group showed up in a big way. We were gritty, quick in transition, and played really smart soccer in the second half."
 
UP NEXT
VCU continues its stretch of road matches, playing at Old Dominion on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.