Men’s soccer: VCU 1, UR 0

For the third straight time, the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s soccer team found itself in a defensive battle with its cross-town rival, the University of Richmond. This time freshman Michael Denkewitz (Bremen, Germany) made sure the Rams were on the right side of a 1-0 victory on Wednesday night at First Market Stadium. The […]

September 17, 2008; 11:44 PM • by FTRea

For the third straight time, the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s soccer team found itself in a defensive battle with its cross-town rival, the University of Richmond. This time freshman Michael Denkewitz (Bremen, Germany) made sure the Rams were on the right side of a 1-0 victory on Wednesday night at First Market Stadium.

The win by VCU ended a brief two-game win streak in the series by Richmond as the Spiders were able to pick up 1-0 wins in 2005 and 2006.

Denkewitz’s first collegiate goal came in the 34^th minute as the Black and Gold improve to 3-3-0 on the season, while the Spiders fall to 1-5-0.

The Rams were aggressive on the offensive end from the start as senior Gerson Dos Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and junior Jake Van Yahres (Charlottesville, Va.) unleashed close range shots that were stopped by the Spiders backline and kept the game scoreless.

Senior David Rosenbaum (Washington, D.C.) continued his strong play as he nearly gave VCU the lead as he blasted a shot from 15 yards out, but a diving save by UR goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson kept the score tied at 1-1.

Dos Santos would help the Black and Gold strike first as he lofted a free kick from along the goal line which Denkewitz headed into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal and gave VCU a 1-0 advantage with 11 minutes left to play before the intermission.

The second half was a defensive battle as neither offense was able to get much going for most of the final 45 minutes.

Richmond would start to pressure the Rams defensive late in regulation as Stephen Chareckzko unleashed a blast from 25 yards out that senior Andrew Dykstra was able to knock down and keep the score at 1-0 in favor of VCU.

The Spiders nearly evened the game in the 80^th minute as Ben Brewster sent a feed across the box, but the VCU backline was able to break it up to preserve the one-goal advantage.

Senior Dirk Dittrich (Stuttgart, Germany) was outstanding all night long as the anchor of the stifling Rams defense and he helped Dykstra pick up his second shutout of the season and 13^th of his career with the 1-0 victory.

Dos Santos picked up his third assist in the past two contests, while Denkewitz tallied the first points of his young career.

The Black and Gold are back on the road on Sunday afternoon as they travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to take on Coastal Carolina in a 1 p.m. contest.