WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Sophomore Josie Mae Gruendel pulled William & Mary even at one late in the third quarter on Sunday afternoon at Busch Field against in-state foe VCU. Unfortunately, the Rams answered by finding the game-winner less than a minute into the final frame to hand the Tribe a 2-1 setback.
 
Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Green and Gold turned up the pressure in the third quarter. W&M nearly scored in transition in the 37th minute, but freshman Josette DeGour's redirected from the right side was blocked by a rushing VCU goalkeeper Tatum Anderson. A minute later, the Tribe had two quality chances off a penalty corner, but both junior Olivia Stocks and sophomore Mackinzie Brown were denied by Anderson.
 
The Tribe's third-quarter pressure finally paid off with two minutes remaining on Gruendel's first goal of the season. Off a VCU foul, junior Emme Schwartz played the ball to Gruendel along the left endline. The sophomore forward fended off a defender and scored just under the VCU goalkeeper from in close while falling to the ground to tie the contest at one. It was the first career assist of Schwartz's career.
 
VCU (8-4) responded less than a minute into the fourth on a series of three shots. Graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George stopped the first two, but the second rebound fell to Ella Fehr who lifted a shot over the top of the Tribe GK to put the visitor back in front 2-1.
 
W&M (1-12) generated four shots and four penalty corners in the fourth quarter, but could not find the equalizer. In total, the Tribe tallied eight of its nine shots, all six on goal, and five of its seven penalty corners in the second half. VCU held a 17-9 advantage in shots, but W&M had a 7-2 cushion in penalty corners for the game. George posted 11 saves to record her seventh game of double-digit saves this year.
 
George stopped the first four shots from VCU in the first half, before the Rams finally broke through late in the first half. In the 27th minute, Luisa Fasold dribbled into the left side of the penalty area and ripped a hard shot to the near post. George got a pad to it, but the shot deflected up into the top netting to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
 
Scoring Summary
27' | VCU – Luisa Fasold (unassisted)
43' | W&M – Josie Mae Gruendel (Emme Schwartz)
46' | VCU - Ella Fehr (unassisted)
 
Starters
VCU - #80 Anderson (GK), #1 Fehr, #10 Fasold, #12 Ventimiglia, #13 Rosenbrock, #14 Aalderink, #18 Carr-Brown, #21 Jense, #22 Radel, #23 Macera, #24 Osorio
W&M – #1 George (GK), #2 Schuma, #4 Brown, #7 Richbourg, #8 Friedman, #9 McGaughey, #15 Schmittel, #16 Stocks, #18 Bartzen, #27 Schwartz, #28 Griffin
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns to action when it hits the road to face CAA foe Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., on Friday, Oct. 18. The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start and will be broadcast on FloLive.