VCU, TOWSON ADVANCE TO CAA MEN'S SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Third-seeded VCU and fourth-seeded Towson advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Men's Soccer Championship after recording home victories in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The Rams defeated #6 Northeastern 3-1 and the Tigers beat #5 William and Mary 2-1. Towson will face top-seeded Drexel in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. on Friday at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex followed by #2 Old Dominion against VCU at 7:30 p.m. The CAA championship match is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday in Virginia Beach.
In Towson, junior midfielder Matt Beckman scored the game-winning goal with 3:45 remaining in regulation as fourth-seeded Towson (11-7-1) posted a 2-1 victory over William & Mary (9-9-3) in a quarterfinal game played at the Tigers’ Towson Center Soccer Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
Beckman took a pass from senior midfielder Pat Healey from 19 yards out and scored past freshman goalkeeper Andrew McAdams to give Towson the one-goal edge. The Tribe had two opportunities to tie the game in the final three minutes, including a shot by McAdams with 12 seconds remaining, but were unable to capitalize.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead just 2:38 into the game when junior midfielder Nino Mangione scored on a blast from 20 yards out which hit the right goal post into the goal. It was his third goal of the season.
Less than six minutes into the second half, the Tribe tied the game at 1-1 when senior midfielder Doug Ernst took a pass from freshman Ian Stowe and scored past senior goalkeeper Billy Chiles on a shot from four yards out.
Chiles made three saves in the win for the Tigers, who have three of their last four games. McAdams recorded four saves in a losing effort for the Tribe.
In Richmond, VCU scored a pair of second-half goals and won its seventh straight match with a 3-1 victory over Northeastern at VCU's Sports Backers Stadium. The Rams improved to 12-5-2 while the Huskies dropped to 8-10-2.
VCU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute as sophomore Owusu Sekyere lofted a pass from the left side to freshman Jorit Loehr who put it in the back of the net. Northeastern drew even in the 33rd minute when senior Greg Kilkenny headed in a pass from Matthew Laning from five yards out.
The Rams moved back ahead in the 55th minute on junior defender Dirk Dittrich's first career goal, which came when Peer Jaekel redirected a throw-in to a sliding Dittrich. VCU tacked on an insurance goal in the 80th minute as Sven Meusch headed in a rebound off a hard shot from Seykere.