Conway, S.C. - Romario Blandon and Thomas Huepper each found the back of the net to help Virginia Commonwealth claim the Coastal Carolina/adidas Invitational championship with a 2-1 victory over the UAlbany men's soccer team at the Coastal Carolina Soccer Field on Sunday, Sept. 6. The Great Danes, who also played the host Chanticleers to a 1-1 tie on Friday night, earned third place in the tournament for posting an 0-1-1 record over the weekend.
     VCU (2-0), which won its opening match of the tournament by a 3-0 decision over St. Francis, N.Y., got its first goal when Blandon, who was named the tournament's offensive MVP, fired a shot into the net from 30 yards away midway through the first half. The Rams doubled their lead with another long shot taken by Huepper in the 44th minute from 25 yards out.
     UAlbany (0-2-1), which was led by all-tournament team members Anthony DeSalvo, Bo Jelovac and Konner McNamara, cut the deficit in half in the 57th minute when David Hawksworth took a cross from Jelovac and blasted the ball past goalkeeper Gabriel Rodriguez, the tournament's defensive MVP, from outside the box for his first career goal. The Great Danes came close to netting the equalizer in the 79th minute when Claudio Dantas, the 2008 America East Conference Striker of the Year, headed a shot on goal which was turned away by Rodriguez. DeSalvo's ensuing corner kick was then cleared up the field, and the Rams held on for the victory.
     UAlbany's Adrian Foncette made seven saves on 18 opportunities in the match. VCU's Rodriguez turned away three of the six shots he faced.
     The Great Danes will be back in action at Varsity Field next weekend for a pair of matches against two squads that competed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. UAlbany will host Colgate of the Patriot League on Friday, Sept. 11 and Fairfield of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on Sunday, Sept. 13. Both matches are slated to kick off at 4 p.m.
-agate-
UAlbany (0-2-1)      0      1      -      1
VCU (2-0)               2      0      -      2

UAlbany: Scoring - David Hawksworth (1-0), Bo Jelovac (0-1). Goalkeeping - Adrian Foncette (90:00, 2 GA, 7 saves).
VCU: Scoring - Romario Blandon (1-0), Thomas Huepper (1-0). Goalkeeping - Gabriel Rodriguez (90:00, 1 GA, 3 saves).

Coastal Carolina/adidas Invitational Tournament Results (Team Finish)
Champions - Virginia Commonwealth (2-0)
Second - Coastal Carolina (1-0-1)
Third - UAlbany (0-1-1)
Fourth - St. Francis, N.Y. (0-2)

Coastal Carolina/adidas Invitational All Tournament Team
Anthony DeSalvo - UAlbany
Konner McNamara - UAlbany
Bo Jelovac - UAlbany
Gabrial Rodriguez - VCU
James Neighbous - VCU
Romario Blandon - VCU
Carlos Picado - VCU
Alex Russell - Coastal Carolina
Levi Curnutte - Coastal Carolina
Riley Phelps - Coastal Carolina
Nick Baum - St. Francis, N.Y.

Defensive MVP: Gabriel Rodriguez (VCU)
Offensive MVP: Romario Blandon (VCU)

VCU 2, UAlbany 1 (Sept. 06, 2009)

Soccer Box Score (Final)
2009 UAlbany Men's Soccer
Albany vs VCU (Sep 06, 2009 at Conway, S.C.)