It was a true battle for first place on Thursday in Richmond, as the Fordham women's soccer team fought tooth and nail with the VCU Rams at Sports Backer Stadium. Unfortunately for Fordham, VCU's Kailyn Slade scored her third goal of the game 4:03 into overtime to give VCU a 3-2 victory.
The loss puts Fordham's record at 8-4-0 overall, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10, while VCU moved to 5-6-1 on the year, 3-0 in the conference.
Fordham got on the board first in the 31
st minute on a set piece.
Brianna Blunck's corner kick was headed in by
Kristina Maksuti for her fourth marker of the season.
The score remained that way until the 49th minute, when VCU tied the game at one on a corner kick of their own. Kailyn Slade headed in an Amanda Hallesjo corner kick for her fourth goal of the year.
The game was tied for only nine minutes, as Fordham regained the lead at 2-1 in the 58
th minute.
Caitlin Leen crossed the ball to
Jessica Widmann, who finished into the back of the net for her conference-leading ninth goal of the season.
VCU would not go away, netting the equalizer again in the 83
rd minute. Slade did the damage again, as she tapped in a loose ball in front of the net with the assist going to Julia Suarez.
Brianna Blunck The match then headed to overtime, where Slade finished off the hat trick 4:03 into the extra session with a header off a Suarez pass.
In goal,
Megan Fitzgerald finished with seven saves for Fordham, while Emma Kruse had two saves.
The Fordham women's soccer team will now return home for a Sunday afternoon match-up on October 11
th, when the Rams take on St. Bonaventure at Jack Coffey Field, beginning at 1:00 PM.
