2017 VCU Rams men's soccer team

The 2017 VCU Rams men's soccer team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 38th season of the university fielding a program. The Rams were be led by eighth-year head coach, Dave Giffard.

2017 VCU Rams men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 25
2017 record	12–7–0 (5–2–0 A-10)
Head coach	David Giffard (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Brett Teach (7th season) Matt Cannady (3rd season)
Home stadium	Sports Backers Stadium

2017 Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
UMass ‡	6	–	1	–	1			15	–	4	–	3
VCU +	6	–	2	–	0			13	–	7	–	0
George Washington	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	7	–	2
Dayton	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	8	–	2
No. 11 Fordham +	5	–	2	–	1			14	–	6	–	3
Rhode Island	4	–	3	–	1			10	–	6	–	3
St. Bonaventure	4	–	4	–	0			8	–	9	–	2
Saint Louis	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	9	–	1
Davidson	3	–	4	–	1			8	–	7	–	2
LaSalle	3	–	5	–	0			8	–	9	–	1
Saint Joseph's	1	–	6	–	1			3	–	11	–	4
Duquesne	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	13	–	1
George Mason	0	–	7	–	1			5	–	9	–	2
‡ – 2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of December 13, 2017; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

For the third straight season, the Rams reached the championship match of the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament, but lost for the third straight time. The Rams fell 1-3 to UMass. Despite the loss the Rams earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. It was the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in four years. VCU were seeded 16th, giving the program their first seeding since 2012. The Rams lost in their opening NCAA Tournament match to Butler, 2-3.

Background

Previous season

The Rams team finished the 2016 season 8–9–4, 4–3–1 in A10 play to earn a berth into the 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament. They defeated UMass and Dayton to advance to the A10 Championship, where they lost to Fordham.[1] The Rams did not earn an at-large berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament.[2]

Review

Offseason

During the 2016-17 offseason, the Rams lost nine seniors to graduation. The most notable departure was four-year starter, Dakota Barnathan, who declared for the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.[3] Barnathan was selected in the third round, with the 59th pick by FC Dallas.[4][5][6] Barnathan was offered a trial with FC Dallas, and appeared in a couple preseason exhibitions with the club,[7] but ultimately was not offered a contract. After leaving Dallas' camp, Barnathan signed on with second division, United Soccer League outfit, Swope Park Rangers, the reserve team of MLS-outfit, Sporting Kansas City.[8] No other graduates signed professional contracts following their graduation.

In February 2017, the spring 2017 season schedule was announced, where VCU participated in several exhibition matches between March and May.

On November 13, 2017, VCU was announced as the 16th-overall seed in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, making it the 10th time in program history the Rams qualified for the tournament.

Transfers

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Dakota Barnathan	8	MF	6'2"	165	Senior (Redshirt)	Massapequa, NY	Graduated; entered the 2017 MLS SuperDraft
Kai Marshall	11	MF	6'2"	185	Senior (Redshirt)	Charlottesville, VA	Graduated
Rahim Costa-Dorsey	77	FW	6'2"	180	Senior	Alexandria, VA	Graduated
Brandon Eaton	6	MF	5'8"	165	Senior	Chesapeake, VA	Graduated
Juan Fajardo Ortiz	5	DF	5'10"	160	Senior	Coyoles Central, HON	Graduated
Jorge Herranz	20	FW	6'0"	175	Senior	Madrid, ESP	Graduated
Simond Kargbo	14	FW	5'5"	130	Senior	Mount Vernon, VA	Graduated
Jason McGlothern	31	MF	6'0"	155	Senior	Seattle, WA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Siad Haji	8	FW	5'8"	150	Sophomore	Manchester, New Hampshire	Transferred from New England College.[9]
Peter Pearson	12	MF	5'7"	155	RS Junior	Virginia Beach, Virginia	Transferred from Virginia.[10]

Recruits

Name	Nat.	Hometown	High School	Club	Height	Weight	Commit date
Brandon Bonilla MF	CRC	San Jose, CRC	N/A	Belén	6'1"	165	April 14, 2017
	Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN:
Ulrik Edvardsen DF	NOR	Bergen, NOR	N/A	Brann	6'3"	175	April 14, 2017
	Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN:
Bruk Fekade MF	ETH	Loudoun, VA	N/A	Loudoun Soccer Club	5'11"	150	April 14, 2017
	Recruit star rankings: TDS: [11] CSN: ESPN:
Jared Greene FW	USA	Virginia Beach, Virginia	Kellam High School	Beach FC	6'2"	155	April 14, 2017
	Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN:
Jared Mazzola GK	USA	Katonah, New York	Somers High School	FC Westchester	6'1"	175	April 14, 2017
	Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN:

Roster

As of November 15, 2017.[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 00 GK  CRC Mario Sequeira 0 GK  USA Jared Mazzola 1 GK  USA Joseph Rice 2 DF  JPN Ryo Shimazaki 3 DF  NOR Ulrik Edvarsen 4 DF  JAM Zeron Sewell 5 DF  FRA Steven Dal Molin 6 MF  USA Lyndsey Moreland 7 MF  USA Luc Fatton 8 FW  SOM Siad Haji 10 MF  BRA Rafael Andrade Santos 11 MF  ESP Fortia Munts 12 MF  USA Peter Pearson

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 MF  USA Travis Cooke 14 FW  USA Jared Greene 15 DF  USA R. J. Roberts 16 MF  JAM Oquin Robinson 17 MF  USA Eli Lockaby 21 MF  USA Greg Boehme 22 MF  USA Anthony Gonnella 23 MF  ITA Francesco Amorosino 24 DF  USA Austin Graham 25 MF  USA Joseph Gonnella 28 DF  ETH Bruk Fekade 32 DF  USA Kelly Walters 56 GK  FRA Pierre Gardan 77 FW  GHA Andy Mensah

Captains in bold

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Spring season
03/04/2017 7:00 am		Montreal Rush	T 1–1		Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
03/19/2017 1:00 pm		at Richmond Kickers (USL)	W 2–1		City Stadium Richmond, VA
03/25/2017 10:00 am		vs. High Point	W 5–0		Thompson Field Blacksburg, VA
03/25/2017* 1:00 pm		at Virginia Tech	T 1–1		Thompson Field Blacksburg, VA
04/01/2017* 1:00 pm		vs. West Virginia Jefferson Cup	T 2–2		Strikers Soccer Complex Glen Allen, VA
04/08/2017* 4:00 pm		at Radford	W 1–0		Cupp Stadium Radford, VA
04/22/2017* 1:00 pm		Elon	W 3–0		Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
04/22/2017* 7:00 pm		Longwood	W 3–2		Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
Exhibitions
08/19/2017* 7:00 pm		at Pittsburgh	W 1–0		Ambrose Urbanic Field Pittsburgh, PA
Regular season
08/25/2017* 7:00 pm		Oakland	L 2–3	0–1–0	Sports Backers Stadium (566) Richmond, VA
08/27/2017* 7:00 pm		Appalachian State	L 2–3	0–2–0	Sports Backers Stadium (415) Richmond, VA
09/01/2017* 7:00 pm		Iona	Cancelled	0–2–0	Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
09/03/2017* 7:00 pm		Saint Francis (PA)	W 3–2	1–2–0	Sports Backers Stadium (352) Richmond, VA
09/10/2017* 7:00 pm		Florida Gulf Coast	Cancelled	1–2–0	FGCU Soccer Complex Fort Myers, FL
09/19/2017* 7:00 pm		at Old Dominion Rivalry	L 0–1	1–3–0	ODU Soccer Complex Norfolk, VA
09/24/2017* 7:00 pm		at Coastal Carolina	W 1–0	2–3–0	CCU Soccer Field (130) Conway, SC
09/30/2017* 7:00 pm		at No. 15 UNC Wilmington	W 1–0 ^OT	3–3–0	Legion Field (130) Wilmington, NC
10/04/2017 7:00 pm		Davidson	W 4–1	4–3–0 (1–0–0)	Sports Backers Stadium (479) Richmond, VA
10/07/2017 7:00 pm		at Fordham	W 1–0	5–3–0 (2–0–0)	Coffey Field (211) The Bronx, NY
10/11/2017 8:00 pm		at Saint Louis	W 4–0	6–3–0 (3–0–0)	Hermann Stadium (606) St. Louis, MO
10/14/2017 7:00 pm		George Washington	L 1–2	6–4–0 (3–1–0)	Sports Backers Stadium (516) Richmond, VA
10/18/2017 7:00 pm		at George Mason Rivalry	W 4–0	7–4–0 (4–1–0)	George Mason Stadium (385) Fairfax, VA
10/21/2017 7:00 pm		at Saint Joseph's	W 3–0	8–4–0 (5–1–0)	McCarthy Stadium (1,280) Philadelphia, PA
10/24/2017* 7:00 pm		at No. 9 Maryland	W 3–0	9–4–0	Ludwig Field (820) College Park, MD
10/28/2017 7:00 pm		Rhode Island	W 2–1	10–4–0 (6–1–0)	Sports Backers Stadium (726) Richmond, VA
11/02/2017 7:00 pm	No. 22	at St. Bonaventure	L 1–2	10–5–0 (6–2–0)	Marra Athletics Complex (210) Olean, NY
Atlantic 10 Tournament
11/05/2017 7:00 pm	(2) No. 22	at (7) St. Bonaventure Quarterfinals	W 4–1	11–5–0	Sports Backers Stadium (274) Richmond, VA
11/10/2017 7:30 pm	(2) No. 24	vs. (6) Rhode Island Semifinals	W 2–0	12–5–0	Baujan Field (164) Dayton, OH
11/12/2017 12:00 pm	(2) No. 24	vs. (1) No. 25 UMass Championship	L 1–3	12–6–0	Baujan Field (164) Dayton, OH
NCAA Tournament
11/19/2017 5:00 pm	(16) No. 22	No. 24 Butler Second Round	L 2–3	12–7–0	Sports Backers Stadium (679) Richmond, VA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

National rankings

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Final
United Soccer [13]								RV	RV	RV	22	24	22	None Released				RV
TopDrawerSoccer.com [14]											RV	17	16	17	25	25	25	25
CollegeSoccerNews.com [15]										RV	RV	24	26	29	None Released			RV

Regional rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th
USC Midwest Region							9	9	7	4	4	7

Awards

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Rafael Santos	Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year	November 13, 2017
Francesco Amorosino	Atlantic 10 All-Second Team	November 13, 2017
Luc Fatton	Atlantic 10 All-Second Team	November 13, 2017
Ulrik Edvarsen	Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team	November 13, 2017
Mario Sequeira	Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team	November 13, 2017
Rafael Santos	CSN Second-Team All-American	January 4, 2018
Rafael Santos	United Soccer Coaches Second-Team All-American	January 5, 2018

Season statistics

Individual

Individual Player Statistics (As of January 26, 2017)

Player	App	Goals	Asst	Points	Shots	Shot%	SOG	SOG%	GW	Pk-Att	GA	Saves	SO
Forwards
Walters, Andrew	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Midfielders
Agiasiotis, Petros	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Amorosino, Francesco	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Boehme, Greg	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Cooke, Travis	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Gonnella, Joe	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Gonnella, Tony	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Lockaby, Eli	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Moreland, Lyndsey	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Munts, Fortia	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Santos, Rafael	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Vargas, Gerald	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Defenders
Dal Molin, Steven	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Ekoue, Cedric	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Graham, Austin	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Roberts, R. J.	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Shimazaki, Ryo	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Goalkeepers
Gardan, Pierre	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Rice, Joseph	0	0	0	0	0	0%	0	0%	0	0-0	0	0	0
Team
Total
Opponents

Legend
App	Appearances	Asst	Assists	Shot%	Shots for Goal Percent
SOG	Shots on Goal	SOG%	Shots on Goal Percent	GW	Game Winning Goals
PK-Att	Penalty Kicks-Attempts	GA	Goals Against	SO	Shut Outs
	Team high

MLS Draft

The following members of the 2017 VCU Rams men's soccer team were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.[16]

Player	Round	Pick	Position	MLS club	Ref.
Rafael Andrade Santos	4	74	MF	D.C. United	[17]

References

1. "Men's Soccer Wins Atlantic 10 Championship in Shootout". Fordham Rams. November 13, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
2. "College soccer: Men's DI soccer committee selects championship field". National Collegiate Athletic Association. NCAA.com. November 15, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
3. Wilson, Adrian (January 30, 2017). "Barnathan drafted, leaves behind legacy". The Commonwealth Times. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
4. Husinger, Nathan (January 17, 2017). "FC Dallas completes draft by selecting former SMU player Marco Carrizales". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo. Retrieved November 17, 2017. VCU midfielder Dakota Barnathan was taken six picks later. He started every game in his last three seasons.
5. "VCU's Barnathan Selected in Third Round of MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas". Atlantic 10 Conference. January 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
6. "FC Dallas selects four in 3rd & 4th rounds of MLS Superdraft". FC Dallas. January 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
7. Epperley, Drew (February 11, 2017). "FC Dallas ties Racing Club in pair of scrimmage". Big D Soccer. SB Nation. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
8. Bergabo, Patrick (February 24, 2017). "Swope Park Rangers signs 2017 MLS SuperDraft selection Dakota Barnathan". Sporting Kansas City. sportingkc.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
9. "Men's Soccer Adds Siad Haji to 2017 Signing Class". vcuathletics.com. June 22, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
10. Turner, Mark. "Nine Fresh Recruits, Coach Giff Brings New Faces to VCU Men's Soccer". VCUSports.com.
11. "Bruk Fekade". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
12. "2017 Men's Soccer Roster". vcuathletics.com.
13. "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. June 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
14. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. June 12, 2017.
15. "CSN Top 30 Polls". CollegeSoccerNews.com. November 17, 2017.
16. "2018 MLS SuperDraft Tracker". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
17. "United select Afonso Pinheiro and Rafael Andrade Santos in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft". dcunited.com. D.C. United. January 21, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.