Game changer: Scherrer ends game in familiar fashion

Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor

Kelsey Scherrer (Chesapeake, Va./Cape Henry Collegiate) plays with a head full of confidence, and rightfully so. The sophomore midfielder netted her fifth game-winning goal of the season Friday night in VCU’s 4-3 rout of James Madison, moving the Rams to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the CAA. The goal came 6:54 into the overtime period for VCU, who surpassed last season’s win total of eight.

“It feels phenomenal; these girls deserve it more than anyone I’ve ever known,” head coach Kelly McQuade said. “This is one of the most fun teams I have ever coached; they put in so much work every day and it’s fun to see it start paying off.”

As swift as Scherrer ended the match, she began it when she created a James Madison turnover and registered the game’s first goal just 1:41 to begin what would be a dominant first half.

Just six minutes later in the half, Marle Van Dessel (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands/Odulphus Lyceum) blasted her eighth goal of the season on a penalty corner to put the Rams up 2-0. The Dukes cut into the lead seven minutes later when CAA leading scorer Amy Daniel converted a penalty corner making the score 2-1, scoring her 15th goal of the season, improving to 1.17 goals per game.

The Rams ended the half on a 3-1 lead with help from a score by Flore Van Dessel (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands/Odulphus Lyceum) at the top of the circle on a penalty corner.

“We had a great start to the game,” McQuade said. “We came out strong, got up quickly and overcame one of our biggest problems of being able to produce in the first half.”

After a goalie switch at the half, James Madison began a comeback in the 45th minute when sophomore Auburn Weisensale brought the Dukes within one after taking a pass from Delores de Rooij and placing it in the right side of the cage.

Daniel would find the back of the net again this time, evening the score with just four minutes remaining in regulation off of a blast from the top of the circle that was redirected by a VCU stick, sending the game into overtime.

The start of overtime brought a scare for VCU when James Madison was given a penalty corner which forced junior goalkeeper Erin Jablonski (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle High) to make a crucial stop adding to her nine saves on the night.

“Erin came up with some huge saves in big moments and kept us in the game,” McQuade said. “She led our defense tonight, and she is a great voice for us.”

The Rams created multiple opportunities at the start of overtime which led to the game-winning goal six minutes in off a pass across the circle from Marle Van Dessel that Scherrer deflected into the left section of the cage.

“Marle gets a lot of credit tonight,” Scherrer said. “She sent me a phenomenal ball, and it just pinged off my stick right into the perfect spot.”

With Friday’s game-winning goal, Scherrer continues to be a consistent asset to a young VCU team.

“Kelsey is our spark plug,” McQuade said. “She absolutely knows when to turn it on and get together the momentum of the game; she’s a game-changer.”

The Rams, who currently stand at second place in the CAA, will look for retribution as they head into their match against Longwood on Wednesday.

“This is another revenge game for us,” McQuade said. “The girls are excited and ready to go and focus on our attack.”

VCU suffered a tough 1-0 loss at Longwood just over a year ago that still lingers in their minds.

“Something about Longwood always gets in our heads,” Scherrer said. “If we can get on the field and play our game rather than theirs, then we will come out with the win.”

Coming off of a solid in-conference win, the VCU Rams field hockey team possesses a stream of confidence looking ahead in the CAA.

“We can and we will win the CAA tournament,” Scherrer said. “Right now we are the team to beat.”

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