Score: VCU 1, La Salle 1
Location: Richmond, Va. / Sports Backers Stadium
Records: VCU (3-4-4, 0-1-2), La Salle (1-3-6, 0-1-2)
 
THE SHORT STORY
VCU men's soccer dominated in the opening half against La Salle and carried its 1-0 lead into the final five minutes of the match, but the visitors managed a late equalizer to force a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
 
PITCH SIDE

• VCU honored its 2025 senior class of Camilo Comi, Ittetsu Hirai, Hayato Miyano, Moussa Ndiaye, Andres Rodriguez
• Sulaiman Abdul-Mateen scored his first goal of the season
• Both Nikita Hayes and Andrey Salmeron recorded their second assists
• Leading the match, Salmeron and Mohammed Ibrahim each had four shots
• Comi and Abdul-Mateen both placed a pair of shots on goal
• VCU tallied 20 shots, the most since they had 22 in their conference-opener vs. Rhode Island last season
• The Rams earned a season-high 15 corner kicks in the match and conceded just four

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• VCU dominated the first half of the match, allowing just one shot in the first 43 minutes, while firing off 16 of their own in that time
• In the 33^rd minute, Ndiaye got a head on a ball-in from the corner that went to video review for VCU's second goal, but La Salle goalkeeper Valentin Kneis was judged to have made the save in front of the goal line
• Abdul-Mateen gave the Rams their 1-0 advantage in the 28^th minute, connecting on a pass from N. Hayes in front of the Explorers' net
• Lucas White created an opportunity to give the Rams a lead in the 87^th minute, but his rocket missed just high
• VCU drew with La Salle, 1-1

 
QUOTABLE
"A big lesson to learn tonight. We were so good for the first 40 minutes of the first half but only had one goal to show for it. Psychologically and physically, without a few key players, we just weren't able to keep pushing and doing the things that made us so successful as the second half wore on. We definitely gave away the enormous amount of control that we had of the game and allowed La Salle back into it, and they are a quality team. If you give quality teams enough opportunities to punish you, it's likely that at some point they will. Unfortunately, they got one pretty late and we ran out of time to respond. Now we must get turned around for another big test on Wednesday away at George Mason," Head Coach Dave Giffard said.
 
UP NEXT
The Rams will play a pair this week against RV George Mason and No. 21 Saint Louis, who were each mentioned in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 polls. VCU will face the Patriots on the road on Wednesday, October 8, before returning home for a Saturday, October 11, matchup against the Billikens.