Sept. 17, 2008

Box Score | SpiderTV WRAP-UP

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - For the third-straight time, the city rivalry between Richmond and VCU was decided by one goal, but this time it was the Rams who snapped a two-game losing streak to the Spiders with a 1-0 win Wednesday at First Market Stadium.

VCU's Michael Dnkewitz was able to rise above the Spider defense and head in a free kick from Gerson Dos Santos in the 34th minute as VCU won at First Market Stadium for the first time since 2003. The Spiders had won the last two meetings overall with the Rams, each by a score of 1-0.

That was the only goal VCU would score four days after defeating national power Virginia 3-1.

"We had given up a lot of goals to start the year and this was by far our best defensive performance of the year," Richmond head coach Jeff Gettler said. "We made it a game for the 90 minutes, I'm very proud of our guys."

The Spiders did have several scoring opportunities in their home opener, but were unable to tie the game.

"We created seven or eight chances that we could have scored on, but didn't take any for goals," Gettler said. "It's another small step forward for us, but we still have a ways to go."

Richmond goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson made 10 saves in goal, including seven in the first half.

"Our goalkeeper made some great saves and then we played a lot better defensively in the second half," Gettler said.

The Spiders hit the road to play at George Mason on Saturday night at 7 p.m., before returning home to face Longwood next Wednesday at 7 p.m.