2019 VCU Rams men's soccer team

2019 VCU Rams men's soccer
2019 VCU Rams men's soccer
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	7–8–3 (6–1–1 A10)
Head coach	David Giffard (10th season);
Assistant coaches	Brett Teach (9th season); Matt Cannady (5th season);
Captain	Simon Fitch
Home stadium	Sports Backers Stadium
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Rhode Island ‡	7	–	1	–	0	14	–	4	–	3
VCU	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	8	–	3
Dayton	6	–	2	–	0	13	–	8	–	0
Saint Louis	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	7	–	0
Fordham	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	10	–	3
La Salle	4	–	4	–	0	8	–	9	–	1
Duquesne	3	–	5	–	0	8	–	8	–	1
UMass	3	–	5	–	0	7	–	10	–	0
George Washington	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	11	–	1
George Mason	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	12	–	2
Davidson	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	11	–	2
Saint Joseph's	1	–	7	–	0	5	–	12	–	1
St. Bonaventure	1	–	7	–	0	5	–	11	–	0


‡ – 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2019 NCAA tournament As of 22 November 2019 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The 2019 VCU Rams men's soccer team will represent Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It will be the 40th season of the university fielding a program. The Rams were be led by tenth-year head coach, Dave Giffard.

VCU enter the 2019 season as the defending Atlantic 10 regular season champions.

Offseason

2019 recruiting class

Source:^[1]

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	High School	TDS Rating
Ndayizeye Bonere	BDI	Roanoke, VA	Roanoke Star	Patrick Henry High School	^[2]
John Ermini	USA	Virginia Beach, VA	Virginia Rush	Cape Henry Collegiate	^[3]
Wladimir Gassant	USA	Virginia Beach, VA	Beach FC	Cape Henry Collegiate	^[4]
Ethan Manheim	USA	Chesterfield, VA	Richmond United	Cosby High School	^[5]
Maverick McGann	USA	Washington, DC	McLean Youth	Maret School	^[6]
Jacob Menke	USA	Fredericksburg, VA	Richmond United	Stafford Senior High School	N/A
Celio Pompeu	BRA	Fortaleza, BRA	Cedar Stars Academy	Saint Benedict's Prep	^[7]
Alex Wichmann	USA	Mobile, AL	Alabama FC	W.P. Davidson High School	^[8]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Siad Haji	10	Midfielder	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	150	Sophomore	Kakuma, KEN	Selected in 2019 MLS SuperDraft by San Jose Earthquakes
Eli Lockaby	17	Midfielder	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	145	RS-Senior	Orlando, FL	Signed by Richmond Kickers (USL League One)
Peter Pearson	12	Midfielder	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	155	RS-Senior	Virginia Beach, VA	Signed by Tormenta (USL League One)
Joseph Rice	1	Goalkeeper	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190	RS-Senior	Fairfax, VA	Graduated

Transfers

Name	Nat.	No.	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Mbongeni Tshuma	ZIM	12	MF		Senior	Bulawayo, ZIM	Transferred from Niagara

Roster

As of July 29, 2019^[9]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	John Ermini
1	GK	USA	Alex Fetterly
2	DF	JPN	Ryo Shimazaki
3	DF	NOR	Ulrik Edvardsen
4	DF	JAM	Zeron Sewell
5	MF	USA	Simon Fitch
7	MF	USA	Myles Brown
8	FW	COD	Biska Biyombo
10	MF	SEN	Fiorre Mane
11	MF	ESP	Fortia Munts
12	MF	ZIM	Mbongeni Tshuma
13	FW	USA	Maverick McGann
14	FW	USA	Jared Greene
15	DF	USA	Toranosuke Abe
16	MF	JAM	Oquin Robinson
17	DF	USA	Austin Graham
18	DF	USA	Jared Valdes


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	DF	USA	Patrick Gyamfi
20	MF	HKG	Kyle Simon
21	FW	NGA	Martin Ngoh
22	MF	USA	Anthony Gonnella
23	GK	CRC	Mario Sequeira
24	FW	USA	Andy Mensah
25	DF	USA	Ethan Manheim
26	MF	USA	Jacob Menke
28	DF	USA	Nick Barahona
29	FW	USA	Wladimir Gasant
30	MF	BDI	Ndayizeye Bonere
31	DF	USA	Roy Cox
32	DF	USA	Kelley Walters
33	MF	JPN	Yugo Suzuki
34	MF	USA	Alex Wichmann
35	MF	BRA	Celio Pompeu

Preseason

Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll

VCU was selected to finish first in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Predicted finish	Team	Points
Coaches' Poll
1	VCU	159 (8)
2	Saint Louis	146 (2)
3	Rhode Island	142 (3)
4	Dayton	121
5	Fordham	109
6	Davidson	102
7	George Mason	93
8	Saint Joseph's	78
9	UMass	63
10	Duquesne	57
11	George Washington	55
12	St. Bonaventure	42
13	La Salle	16

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Preseason
August 17* 7:00 pm		at Longwood	Not reported		Longwood Athletics Complex Farmville, VA
August 20* 7:00 pm		William & Mary	Cancelled^[a]		Sports Backers Stadium Richmond, VA
August 24* 7:00 pm		at NC State	L 1–2		Dail Soccer Field Raleigh, NC
Regular season
August 30* 7:00 pm		East Tennessee State VCU Tournament	W 1–0	1–0–0	Sports Backers Stadium (0) Richmond, VA
September 2* 7:00 pm		LIU VCU Tournament	L 0–1	1–1–0	Sports Backers Stadium (449) Richmond, VA
September 6* 7:00 pm		vs. Saint Francis (PA) Old Dominion Stihl Classic	Cancelled^[b]		ODU Soccer Complex Norfolk, VA
September 8* 7:30 pm		vs. NJIT Old Dominion Stihl Classic	L 0–1 ^OT	1–2–0	Sports Backers Stadium (593) Richmond, VA
September 13* 7:00 pm		at No. 16 UCF	L 0–2	1–3–0	UCF Soccer and Track Stadium (731) Orlando, FL
September 17* 7:00 pm		at Old Dominion Rivalry	L 1–3	1–4–0	ODU Soccer Complex (333) Norfolk, VA
September 21 7:00 pm		at St. Bonaventure	W 2–0	2–4–0 (1–0–0)	Marra Athletics Complex (145) Allegheny, NY
September 25* 7:00 pm		at No. 24 Coastal Carolina	T 1–1 ^2OT	2–4–1	CCU Soccer Field (95) Conway, SC
September 28 7:00 pm		at Saint Joseph's	W 4–3 ^OT	3–4–1 (2–0–0)	Sweeney Field (858) Philadelphia, PA
October 2 7:00 pm		at Akron	L 0–2	3–5–1	Cub Cadet Field Akron, OH
October 5 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Davidson	W 2–1 ^2OT	4–5–1 (3–0–0)	Sports Backers Stadium (709) Richmond, VA
October 9 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Dayton	W 2–1 ^OT	5–5–1 (4–0–0)	Sports Backers Stadium (812) Richmond, VA
October 19 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Rhode Island	L 1–2	5–6–1 (4–1–0)	URI Soccer Complex (409) Kingston, RI
October 23 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Fordham	T 0–0 ^2OT	5–6–2 (4–1–1)	Sports Backers Stadium (384) Richmond, VA
October 26 7:00 pm, ESPN+		George Washington Senior Night	W 2–0	6–6–2 (5–1–1)	Sports Backers Stadium (471) Richmond, VA
October 29* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UNCW	L 0–3	6–7–2	Sports Backers Stadium (379) Richmond, VA
November 2 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at George Mason Rivalry	W 1–0	7–7–2 (6–1–1)	George Mason Stadium (576) Fairfax, VA
Atlantic 10 Tournament
November 9 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(2)	(7) George Mason Quarterfinals	T 2–2^[c] ^2OT	7–7–3	Sports Backers Stadium (340) Richmond, VA
November 15 1:00 pm, ESPN+	(2)	vs. (3) Dayton Semifinals	L 0–1	7–8–3	Coffey Field (602) New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	No.	Po.	Name	Regular Season	NCAA Tournament	Total
1	13	FW	Maverick McGann	1	0	1

Disciplinary record

No.	Po.	Name	Regular Season			A10 Tournament			Total
No.	Po.	Name
1	MF	Martin Ngoh	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	DF	Oquin Robinson	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	MF	Biska Biyombo	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total			2	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1

2020 MLS Super Draft

Player	Team	Round	Pick #	Position

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Maverick McGann	Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Rookie of the Week	September 3, 2019	^[13]

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 13
United Soccer^[14]	RV	NV	NV		None Released
TopDrawer Soccer ^[15]	NV	NV	NV	NV
CollegeSoccerNews.com^[16]	NV	RV	NV

Regional rankings

Ranking movement
**Legend:** ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Final
United Soccer Southeast	6	NV

Notes

^ The William and Mary scrimmage was called off due to severe weather after 45 minutes.^[10]
^ The match against Saint Francis was cancelled due to Hurricane Dorian.^[11]
^ VCU won 4–3 in penalty kicks.^[12]

References

^ "Cardinal's Class Announced". Stanford University Athletics.
^ "Bonere Ndayizeye". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "John Ermini". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "Wladimir Gassant". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "Ethan Manheim". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "Maverick McGann". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "Celio Pompeu". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "Alex Wichmann". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
^ "2019 VCU Men's Soccer Roster". vcuathletics.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
^ @WMTribeMSoccer (August 20, 2019). "The Tribe's exhibition match at VCU was canceled after the opening 45 minutes due to inclement weather" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Friday's Match Against St. Francis Cancelled Due to Weather". VCUAthletics.com. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
^ "Rams Advance to A-10 Semifinals After Comeback and Penalty Shootout". VCUAthletics.com. November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
^ "Akinlosotu, McCarthy Named Men's Soccer Offensive Players of the Week, McKelvey Earns Defensive Honor". Atlantic10.com. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
^ "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14.
^ "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer.
^ "CSN Top 30 Polls". CollegeSoccerNews.com. Retrieved September 4, 2019.

[11] The William and Mary scrimmage was called off due to severe weather after 45 minutes.^[10]

[13] The match against Saint Francis was cancelled due to Hurricane Dorian.^[11]

[15] VCU won 4–3 in penalty kicks.^[12]

[1] "Cardinal's Class Announced". Stanford University Athletics.

[2] "Bonere Ndayizeye". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[3] "John Ermini". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[4] "Wladimir Gassant". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[5] "Ethan Manheim". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[6] "Maverick McGann". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[7] "Celio Pompeu". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[8] "Alex Wichmann". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved 2019-07-30.

[9] "2019 VCU Men's Soccer Roster". vcuathletics.com. Retrieved July 29, 2019.

[10] @WMTribeMSoccer (August 20, 2019). "The Tribe's exhibition match at VCU was canceled after the opening 45 minutes due to inclement weather" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[12] "Friday's Match Against St. Francis Cancelled Due to Weather". VCUAthletics.com. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.

[14] "Rams Advance to A-10 Semifinals After Comeback and Penalty Shootout". VCUAthletics.com. November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.

[16] "Akinlosotu, McCarthy Named Men's Soccer Offensive Players of the Week, McKelvey Earns Defensive Honor". Atlantic10.com. Retrieved 2019-09-03.

[17] "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14.

[18] "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer.

[19] "CSN Top 30 Polls". CollegeSoccerNews.com. Retrieved September 4, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e VCU Rams men's soccer
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
Club	History Results by opponent Seasons All articles
Stadium	Cary Street Field (1978–1998) Sports Backers Stadium (1999–present)
Rivalries	George Mason
People	Dave Giffard Notable alumni
Seasons	1997 1998 2002 2003 2004 2012 2013 2017
National championship seasons in bold; College Cup seasons in italics

v t e Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer
Teams	Davidson Wildcats Dayton Flyers Duquesne Dukes Fordham Rams George Mason Patriots George Washington Revolutionaries La Salle Explorers Loyola Chicago Ramblers UMass Minutemen Rhode Island Rams St. Bonaventure Bonnies Saint Joseph's Hawks Saint Louis Billikens VCU Rams
Inactive teams	Richmond Spiders
Championships & awards	A10 Tournament Player of the Year Freshman of the Year Coach of the Year All-A10 teams
Seasons	1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

v t e 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
Regular Season	America East American ACC ASUN Atlantic 10 Big East Big South Big Ten Big West Colonial Conference USA Horizon Ivy MAAC Mid-American Missouri Valley Northeast Pac-12 Patriot Southern Sun Belt Summit WAC West Coast
Tournaments	America East American ACC ASUN Atlantic 10 Big East Big South Big Ten Big West Colonial Conference USA Horizon MAAC Mid-American Missouri Valley Northeast Patriot Southern Sun Belt Summit WAC
National Tournaments	NCAA Final
Rankings & awards	Rankings United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll All-Americans