After three consecutive appearances to the NCAA tournament, Virginia Commonwealth's men's soccer team was cautiously optimistic that the string would continue in 2000. However, with the loss of All-American forwards Kevin Jeffrey and Ricardo Capilla plus five other starters, head coach Tim O'Sullivan knew a fourth trip to the NCAA tournament would not be easy despite the addition of several talented newcomers.
The Rams began the season looking like a team worthy of post-season consideration, winning four straight to capture the Nike/ALLTEL Classic on their home field and the Mayor's Cup in Oneonta, N.Y. In the season-opening victory against Cincinnati, the Rams appeared to have found adequate replacements for Jeffrey and Capilla as forwards Matthew Delicate and Matt O'Connor each scored twice to down the Bearcats 4-3. The following night, midfielder Roman Otten scored the first of his four game-winning goals to lead the Rams to a 1-0 win against Loyola. For his heroics, Otten was named the Nike/ALLTEL Classic's most valuable player.
Success followed the Rams to New York, where Delicate scored the game's only goal against Hartwick in the opening game of the Mayor's Cup. Against Oneonta State, Cory Greiner assisted on O'Connor's third goal of the year before knocking home a pass from O'Connor in the Cup-clinching 2-1 victory. Senior Andy Kish was named the defender of the tournament as the Rams allowed just one goal in two games. The 4-0 start earned the Rams a No. 9 national ranking, nearly matching the No. 7 ranking the team achieved in 1999.
But the fast start overshadowed what would be a weakness for the Rams the remainder of the season: offense. After scoring eight goals in their first four games, the Rams would tally just 14 in their remaining 17 games. The troubles began at the Penn State tournament in a scoreless tie against Ohio State. The struggles to score were only compounded when O'Connor injured an ankle in the match with the Buckeyes and missed the next four games. The Rams then lost to the second-ranked Nittany Lions 1-0 despite having adequate opportunities to score. Another starter was lost for a significant amount of time when Kish broke his foot early in the Penn State game. He would miss the next nine contests. The slide continued as the Rams dropped a tough 1-0 overtime decision to No. 8 Virginia in Charlottesville to run their scoreless streak to three games.
Otten ended the scoring drought a week later at Howard with a 20-yard blast in the second overtime period to snap a three-game losing streak. A pair of newcomers in Delicate and forward Ignacio Talamante found the net in a 2-1 win over Radford, but it was the last multiple-goal game for six games as the Rams lost their next four. In two 1-0 home losses to American and Maryland, the Rams allowed an early goal and were unable to respond. At Connecticut, the Rams battled the top-ranked Huskies for 81 minutes before giving up a late goal to lose another 1-0 contest. Against No. 20 James Madison, O'Connor's second-half goal appeared to be enough for the upset. But the Dukes tied the game just 10 minutes later, then netted the game-winner in overtime to hand the Rams another one-goal defeat. All of the Rams' first six losses, as well as their first five victories, were decided by one goal.
Two home ties to Richmond and Old Dominion stretched the winless string to six games, but with three goals in the two draws, the Rams appeared to have temporarily fixed their scoring problem. After posting a record of 0-2-2 in Colonial Athletic Association matches, the Rams picked up their first conference win of the season by defeating UNC-Wilmington 3-1. Besides ending the winless streak at six, another string was snapped when junior goalkeeper Adam Mead did not start in goal for the first time in his career at VCU due to an injury. Mead had started the previous 58 games.
After tying their fourth match of the season at George Mason, the Rams took another step back, losing at East Carolina 2-0 to ensure their first losing CAA record under O'Sullivan since 1996. In the regular season finale, goals by Delicate and Otten helped get their team back on track with a 2-1 win over defending CAA champion William & Mary, sending the Rams into the CAA tournament with an overall record of 8-7-4.
If a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament berth were in the Rams' future, they would have to win the conference tournament, in which they were seeded fifth. In the quarterfinals, Otten again netted the game-winner off a free kick just outside the penalty area to defeat George Mason and advance the Rams to the semifinals for the fourth straight year. But top-seeded James Madison ended Virginia Commonwealth's hopes by scoring three unanswered goals to eliminate the Rams 3-0. The loss marked the first game since the season opener against Cincinnati that the Rams allowed more than two goals.
Otten, who tied for the team lead with 14 points on five goals and four assists, was named to the all-CAA second team, as well as the NSCAA South Atlantic all-region second team. Delicate also finished with 14 points, scoring a team best six goals and showing the potential to be the consistent goal scorer the Rams sorely need. Mead, who missed two games, posted the lowest goals-against average of his career at 1.03 while recording five solo shutouts for the third consecutive year.
With key players such as Mead, Otten and Delicate back for 2001, the Rams look to start a new string of NCAA appearances and top 25 finishes next season.