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VCU Rams men's soccer
VCU Rams men's soccer
Founded	1978; 46 years ago
University	Virginia Commonwealth University
Head coach	Dave Giffard (14th season)
Conference	A-10
Location	Richmond, Virginia
Stadium	Sports Backers Stadium ; (Capacity: 3,250)
Nickname	Rams
Colors	Black and gold;
Home	Away
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
	2004
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
	2003, 2004
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
	1997, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2017
NCAA Tournament appearances
	1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2017
Conference Tournament championships
	1997, 2002, 2003
Conference Regular Season championships
	1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2018, 2023

The VCU Rams men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Virginia Commonwealth University, an NCAA Division I member school located in the state's capital of Richmond. The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Since their foundation, the team has won three conference championships, all of which came in the Colonial Athletic Association, and four regular season titles. The Rams have qualified for seven NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championships, most recently coming in 2012. Most of the team's success has come within the last 15 seasons, as they first reached the NCAA Tournament in 1997. The program's best performance in the tournament came in 2004, when the Rams reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, knocking off the top seed, Wake Forest, in the process.

The Rams are presently coached by David Giffard, who was a former assistant coach under Caleb Porter for the Akron Zips. Under Giffard, the Rams have qualified for three NCAA Tournaments, two as national seeds, and have won one Atlantic 10 Regular Season title. As of 2022, Giffard is the second longest tenured head coach in program history.

History

Beginning in 1978, Virginia Commonwealth University fielded an NCAA Division I men's varsity soccer program that competed independently,^[2] joining the Sun Belt Conference in 1979.^[3] Ben Satterfield was the team's initial head coach and was at the helm until the end of the 1982 season. Ben Satterfield's teams got progressively better, and in 1981, was ranked #1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and was in the NCAA Division I Top 25 in the nation. VCU had a bye going into the 1981 Sun Belt Tournament with a 12–5–3 record, and lost a heart-breaker to University of South Alabama 2–1, ending their season. Roosevelt Lundy took over in 1983, and struggled to do well in the conference.

Following Steuckenschneider's departure in 1994, Tim Sullivan took over the head coaching job. It was also the same year VCU left the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to join the Colonial Athletic Association. Under Sullivan's tenure, the team enjoyed their most success both in conference play and in NCAA play, earning their first ever berth in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

Initially, the young team had struggles in the Colonial Athletic Association, finishing towards the bottom of the conference standings in its first two years. In 1997, the team vastly improved, earning a third-place regular season record and earning the CAA championship that year. In the 1997 Championship, the Rams defeated American University 9–8 in a penalty kick shootout after drawing 2–2 in regulation time.^[3]

Since then the team won the CAA championship in 2002 and 2003, as well as winning the regular-season title those same years as well as winning the honor in 2004.^[3]

The team's most successful run in the College Cup, the men's NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament, came in 2004, where the Rams entered the tournament as ranked 16th in the nation, earning a bye to the second round proper. In the second round, the Rams defeated George Washington, before upsetting the number-one seeded, Wake Forest Demon Deacons in penalty kicks. Reaching the regional finals, or quarterfinals in the entire tournament, VCU lost to eventual national finalists, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.^{[citation needed]}

Following the end of the 2009 season, VCU hit a team nadir, falling to last place in the CAA, their worst in the history. Following the conclusion of the season, 15-year head coach, Tim O'Sullivan was fired to be replaced by David Giffard, thus making Giffard the sixth head coach in VCU men's soccer history.^[4] Giffard's facelifting of the team was credited in their finishing as regular season runners-up in 2010.^[5]

The Giffard-led program began play in the Atlantic 10 Conference during the 2012 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, where the Rams finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 table, and reached the final of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament, only to lose to Saint Louis in the final. The Rams secured an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, making it the first time since 2004 the Rams qualified. In the tournament, VCU was seeded fourteenth in the tournament. They lost to Syracuse Orange in the second round proper of the tournament, 3–2 after extra time.

Colors and badge

The team uses the school colors of black and gold.

Stadium

Along with the women's soccer and the track & field teams, the Virginia Commonwealth men's soccer team plays at the 3,250-seat Sports Backers Stadium. Located three miles north of the Monroe Park Campus, the stadium is adjacent to The Diamond ballpark, where the baseball team plays. Since its completion in 1999, the stadium has served as the primary venue for the team.

Fans

Like all VCU Rams sports teams, the men's soccer team's main fan group is the Rowdy Rams. The Rowdy Rams are situated in the bleachers in front of the nets, and switch sides each half to invoke intimidation on the opposing sides goalkeeper. They sit with the university's marching band. The Rowdy Rams at games refer to themselves as Rowdy FC.

Rivalries

Over the years, the Rams have developed rivalries with intrastate colleges, both in the Colonial Athletic Association and against non-conference opponents. The team's main rivals, at least before the move to the A10, were considered to be George Mason^[6]^[7] and Old Dominion,^[8] who both played with the Rams in the CAA. Due to the recent success of the teams' programs, some considered William & Mary and James Madison to be tertiary conference rivals of the Rams before their departure for the A10.

In the Rams' new conference home of the A10, their main rival will be the Richmond Spiders, primarily due to the geographical proximity of the two universities.^[9]

Outside the CAA and A10, some cite Virginia Tech and University of Virginia as intra-conference, state rivals due to record attendances. Of the three largest attendance crowds in VCU soccer history, two came from home matches against VT and UVA.

Roster

As of 29 Dec 2022^[10]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	Max Dunphy
00	GK	USA	John Ermini
1	GK	USA	Cory Taylor
2	DF	USA	Yugo Suzuki
3	DF	USA	Blaize Hardy
5	MF	SEN	Moussa Ndiaye
7	MF	USA	Damian Gallegos
8	MF	NED	Philip Klomp
10	FW	SEN	Papa Toure
11	FW	ARG	Camilo Comi
12	FW	USA	Lance Christmas
13	FW	USA	Maverick McGann
14	DF	USA	Ethan Manheim
15	MF	USA	William Hitchcock
16	MF	USA	Andres Rodriguez
17	MF	UGA	Jonathan Kanagwa
18	DF	USA	Jared Valdes
19	DF	CRC	Gerardo Castillo


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	USA	Mouhamed Tucker
21	MF	USA	Ndayizeye Bonere
22	MF	USA	Tariq Moutaouakil
23	MF	USA	Lucas White
24	MF	USA	Graham Dougald
25	DF	USA	Justice Campbell
26	DF	JPN	Hayato Miyano
27	DF	JAM	Scott McLeod
28	DF	USA	Nick Barahona
29	FW	USA	Wladimir Gasant
30	MF	CGO	Sadock Kilosho
31	MF	CGO	Pacific Ibanzi
33	FW	CGO	Nolan Coetzee
36	MF	USA	David Hughes
37	DF	USA	Ethan Bayer
51	GK	JPN	Ittetsu Hirai
99	FW	USA	Jean-Claude Bilé

Team management

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Dave Giffard
Assistant Coach	Brett Teach
Assistant Coach	Lucas Paulini
Director of Player Development	Ronnie Pascale
Director of Student Development	Greg Simmonds
Assistant Coach	Alex Fetterly

Head coaching history

Tenure	Name
1978–1982	Ben Satterfield
1983–1989	Roosevelt Lundy Gianni Baldini ^{[n 1]}
1989–1994	Lincoln Phillips
1994	Jon Steuckenschneider
1995–2009	Tim O'Sullivan ^{[n 2]}
2010–present	David Giffard

Notes

^ Co-Head coach 1983-1987.
^ Led team to first CAA championship; first NCAA tournament appearance; led team to quarterfinals in 2004.

Seasons

This is a list of the most recent seasons at VCU.

Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Wooden Spoon

Key to conference record

GP = Games played
W = Won
L = Lost
T = Tied
GF = Goals for
GA = Goals against
Pts = Points
Pos. = Final conference position

Key to conference tournament rounds

R1 = First round
QF = Quarterfinals
SF = Final
F = Final

Key to NCAA tournament rounds

R1 = First round
R2 = Second round
R3 = Third round
R4 = Fourth round
QF = Quarterfinals
SF = Semifinals (College Cup)

Season	Conference Regular Season									Overall							Conference tournament	NCAA tournament	Add. honours
Season	Division	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts.	Pos.	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts.	Conference tournament	NCAA tournament	Add. honours
1978	Independent	14	4	10	0			12
1979	Independent
1980	Sun Belt
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987		3	0	3	0			3	6th	20	11	7	2			35	SF
1988		3	1	2	0			3	4th	17	9	6	2			29	SF
1989		3	1	1	1			4	3rd	19	8	10	1			25	SF
1990		7	2	3	2			8	6th	18	5	9	4			19	R1
1991	Metro	3	1	1	1			4	3rd	19	8	10	1			25	Runners-up
1992		5	0	2	2			2	5th	18	5	11	2			17
1993		5	4	1	0			12	1st	18	15	3	0			45	SF
1994		5	0	5	0			0	5th	19	5	14	0			15
1995	CAA	8	2	5	1	4	15	7	7th	19	8	10	1	30	28	25	QF
1996		8	2	5	1	9	16	7	6th	19	6	9	4	24	26	22	QF
1997		10	4	4	2	15	11	14	3rd	23	15	4	4	40	23	49	Champions	R2
1998		8	7	0	1	21	7	22	1st	21	12	6	3	38	25	39	SF	R1
1999		8	6	2	0	20	8	18	2nd	22	14	7	1	46	25	43	Runners-up	R1
2000		8	2	3	3	10	11	9	6th	21	9	8	4	22	23	31	SF
2001		5	2	2	1	7	7	7	4th	21	8	10	3	32	26	27	Runners-up
2002		9	7	1	1	21	6	22	1st	22	15	5	1	44	20	46	Champions	R3
2003		9	8	1	0	23	4	24	1st	22	17	5	0	50	24	51	Champions	R4
2004		9	7	1	1	14	6	22	1st	21	12	6	3	36	22	39	SF	QF
2005		11	4	3	4	11	7	16	4th	18	6	10	4	20	25	22	QF
2006		11	2	8	1	10	16	7	10th	18	4	13	1	17	25	13
2007		11	7	4	0	28	12	21	3rd	20	12	6	2	48	18	38	SF
2008		11	4	5	2	10	10	14	9th	18	8	8	2	23	18	26
2009		11	2	8	1	15	19	7	10th	17	5	10	2	25	27	17
2010		13	5	2	4			19	2nd	19	8	5	6	23	17	30	SF
2011		11	6	5	0	15	14	18	7th	20	11	9	0	34	24	33
2012	A-10	9	6	1	2	23	11	20	4th	20	12	3	5	42	25	41	Runners-up	R2
2013		8	5	2	1	18	7	16	3rd	21	11	8	2	30	20	35	SF	R1
2014		8	4	1	3	8	2	15	3rd	20	7	8	5	19	11	26	QF
2015		8	3	2	3	7	6	12	8th	21	7	10	4	24	27	25	Runners-up
2016		8	4	3	1	12	8	13	5th	21	8	9	4	27	29	28	Runners-up
2017		8	6	2	0			18	2nd	18	12	6	0			36	Runners-up	R2
2018		8	6	1	1			19	1st	18	10	6	2			32	SF
2019		8	6	1	1			19	2nd	18	7	8	3
2020		6	3	2	1			10	6th	9	4	3	2
2021		8	4	3	1			13	4th	18	9	7	2
2022		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	TBD	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	TBD	TBD

Source for CAA record: NM Athletics^[11]
Source for Metro and Sun Belt record: VCU Athletics^[12]

Records and statistics

Attendance records

2,927 v. Virginia Tech (Oct 26, 2003)
2,242 v. Virginia (Sept 25, 2012)
1,987 v. William & Mary (Oct 12, 2011)

Career records

Points^[13]
Pos.	Player	Career	Pts.
1	Matthew Delicâte	2000–03	103
2	Ricardo Capilla	1997–99	94
3	Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi	1992–95	80
4	Orlin Weise	1985–88	72
5	Tedmore Henry	1980–82	66

Goals^[13]
Pos.	Player	Career	G
1	Matthew Delicâte	2000–03	45
2	Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi	1992–95	34
3	Ricardo Capilla	1997–99	30
4	Kevin Jeffrey	1998–99	29
4	Orlin Weise	1985–88	29

Game-Winning Goals^[13]
Pos.	Player	Career	GWG
1	Matthew Delicâte	2000–03	17
2	Ricardo Capilla	1997–99	8
3	McColm Cephas	1998–99	7
3	Kevin Jeffrey	1998–99	7
5	Mike Aust	2002–05	5
5	Gonzalo Segares	2001–04	5

NCAA tournament results

Season	Competition	Round	Seed	Opponent	Result	Notes
1997	NCAA Tournament	R1	N/A	Georgetown	1–2
1998	NCAA Tournament	R1	N/A	South Carolina	1–2
1999	NCAA Tournament	R1	N/A	#5 Wake Forest	1–2
2002	NCAA Tournament	R2	#8	Furman	0–0	Furman wins in pen.
2003	NCAA Tournament	R2	#9	Virginia Tech	5–2
		R3	#9	#5 Indiana	0–5
2004	NCAA Tournament	R2	#16	George Washington	2–0
		R3	#16	#1 Wake Forest	2–2	VCU wins in pen.
		QF	#16	#9 UC Santa Barbara	1–4
2012	NCAA Tournament	R2	#14	Syracuse	2–3	Syracuse wins in 2OT
2013	NCAA Tournament	R1	N/A	Navy	0–3
2017	NCAA Tournament	R2	#16	Butler	2–3

Honors

NCAA Men's Soccer Region 1
- Runners-up (1): 2004
Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season
- Winners (2): 2018, 2023
- Runners-up (1): 2017
Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament
- Runners-up (3): 2012, 2015, 2016
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
- Champions (3): 1997, 2002, 2003
- Runners-up (2): 1999, 2001
Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season
- Winners (4): 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004
- Runners-up (2): 1999, 2010
Metro Conference Regular Season
- Winners (1): 1993

References

^ "Virginia Commonwealth University Primary Palette". Retrieved March 23, 2019.
^ Epps, Wayne Jr. (October 4, 2018). "VCU men's soccer set to celebrate 40th anniversary this weekend". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2009 Men's Soccer in Review" (PDF). NMAthletics.com. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
^ "VCU fires O'Sullivan as soccer coach". The Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 17, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
^ Stern, Adam (April 26, 2010). "New coach, new swagger for men's soccer". The Commonwealth Times. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
^ Stevens, Patrick (April 26, 2011). "VCU among George Mason's permanent home-and-home foes". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
^ Sullivan, Joe (February 4, 2011). "Sully's Court: My future viewing habits". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
^ "Local players sometimes leave home to spice VCU-ODU rivalry". Richmond Times-Dispatch. TimesDispatch.com. January 21, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
^ Yanda, Steve (March 22, 2011). "NCAA tournament gives VCU and Richmond something in common". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
^ "VCU Men's Soccer Roster". vcuathletics.com. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
^ "CAA Men's Soccer Past Champions" (PDF). Colonial Athletic Association. NMAthletics.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
^ "VCU Men's Soccer Year-by-Year Results". VCUAthletics.com. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c "VCU Men's Soccer Season Records". VCUAthletics.com. Retrieved November 6, 2011.