RICHMOND, Va. – It came down to the final kick of the game, but VCU Women's Soccer (0-1) fell one goal short of a postive result in the season opener, losing 2-1 to Liberty (1-0) on Friday at Sports Backers Stadium.
As the final seconds ticked away, sophomore
Kendyl Sarver intercepted a Liberty pass deep in the Flames' end and as the countdown began for the final 10 seconds, Sarver drove the goal. She ripped off a shot right at the buzzer, but the Liberty keeper kept her composure to save the last shot of the game to end VCU's chance at pulling out a draw.
Junior
Allison Karpovich, who took over to start the second half, recorded five saves in the half, including a pair of diving saves to keep Liberty off the board. Over the first 20 minutes of the half, Karpovich was on her head, making three big saves to keep VCU in the game as the Rams survived the Liberty's assault on the goal in the second half.
All the scoring took place in the first half, with Liberty's Rachel DeRuby scoring in the sixth minute and Avenley Monteith giving Liberty the lead in the 36th minute.
But it was VCU's goal in the 11th minute that took home the highlight for the day.
Liberty played a ball towards the midfield but into space, and it was in that space that redshirt senior
Anna Bagley drove hard on the ball. She picked it up about 35 yards out, and using the space drove the box until she was roughly 25 yards out.
Bagley then took one peek at the goal and let a banger rip, smashing the underside of the crossbar before bouncing in off the line to open VCU's 2023 account.
One of the reasons the game remained scoreless was because of the outstanding second half goalkeeping from VCU junior
Allison Karpovich, who stepped in between the pipes to start the second half.
VCU asked plenty of questions late in the second half, getting back-to-back shots in the 82nd and 83rd minute. The first being a shot that junior
Greta Kraszula smacked off the woodwork, missing a tying goal by inches and it showed how hard the Rams battled despite falling in the end.
UP NEXT: VCU returns to the pitch for a Sunday, Aug. 20 matchup at UNCW before returning to Sports Backers Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 24 for a 6 p.m. meeting with Old Dominion.
