The 2017 VCU Rams men's soccer team represented Virginia Commonwealth University during the 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 38th season of the university fielding a program. The Rams were led by eighth-year head coach, Dave Giffard.
For the third straight season, the Rams reached the championship match of the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament, but lost for the third straight time. The Rams fell 1-3 to UMass. Despite the loss the Rams earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. It was the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in four years. VCU were seeded 16th, giving the program their first seeding since 2012. The Rams lost in their opening NCAA Tournament match to Butler, 2-3.
Background Previous season
The Rams team finished the 2016 season 8–9–4, 4–3–1 in A10 play to earn a berth into the 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Tournament. They defeated UMass and Dayton to advance to the A10 Championship, where they lost to Fordham. The Rams did not earn an at-large berth into the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Review Offseason During the 2016-17 offseason, the Rams lost nine seniors to graduation. The most notable departure was four-year starter, Dakota Barnathan, who declared for the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Barnathan was selected in the third round, with the 59th pick by FC Dallas. Barnathan was offered a trial with FC Dallas, and appeared in a couple preseason exhibitions with the club, but ultimately was not offered a contract. After leaving Dallas' camp, Barnathan signed on with second division, United Soccer League outfit, Swope Park Rangers, the reserve team of MLS-outfit, Sporting Kansas City. No other graduates signed professional contracts following their graduation.
In February 2017, the spring 2017 season schedule was announced, where VCU participated in several exhibition matches between March and May.
On November 13, 2017, VCU was announced as the 16th-overall seed in the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, making it the 10th time in program history the Rams qualified for the tournament.
Transfers Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure 8 MF 165 (Redshirt) Massapequa, NY Graduated; entered the 2017 MLS SuperDraft 11 MF 185 (Redshirt) Charlottesville, VA Graduated 77 FW 180 Alexandria, VA Graduated 6 MF 165 Chesapeake, VA Graduated 5 DF 160 Coyoles Central, HON Graduated 20 FW 175 Madrid, ESP Graduated 14 FW 130 Mount Vernon, VA Graduated 31 MF 155 Seattle, WA Graduated
Incoming transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Siad Haji 8 FW 5'8" 150 Sophomore Manchester, New Hampshire Transferred from New England College. Peter Pearson 12 MF 5'7" 155 RS Junior Virginia Beach, Virginia Transferred from Virginia.
Recruits
Name Nat. Hometown High School Club Height Weight Commit date San Jose, CRC Belén 6'1" 165 April 14, 2017 Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN: Bergen, NOR Brann 6'3" 175 April 14, 2017 Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN: Loudoun, VA Loudoun Soccer Club 5'11" 150 April 14, 2017 Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN: Virginia Beach, Virginia Kellam High School Beach FC 6'2" 155 April 14, 2017 Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN: Katonah, New York Somers High School FC Westchester 6'1" 175 April 14, 2017 Recruit star rankings: TDS: CSN: ESPN:
Roster
As of November 15, 2017.
Captains in bold
Schedule
!colspan=8 style=""| Spring season
!colspan=8 style=""| Exhibitions
!colspan=8 style=""| Regular season
!colspan=8 style=""| Atlantic 10 Tournament
!colspan=8 style=""| NCAA tournament
Rankings National rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. PollPre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Final United Soccer RV RV RV 22 24 22 None Released RV TopDrawerSoccer.com RV 17 16 17 25 25 25 25 CollegeSoccerNews.com RV RV 24 26 29 None Released RV
Regional rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked. RV=Others receiving votes. Poll 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th USC Midwest Region 9 9 7 4 4 7
Awards
Rafael Santos Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year November 13, 2017 Francesco Amorosino Atlantic 10 All-Second Team November 13, 2017 Luc Fatton Atlantic 10 All-Second Team November 13, 2017 Ulrik Edvarsen Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team November 13, 2017 Mario Sequeira Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team November 13, 2017 Rafael Santos CSN Second-Team All-American January 4, 2018 Rafael Santos United Soccer Coaches Second-Team All-American January 5, 2018
Season statistics Team Individual
+Individual Player Statistics (As of January 26, 2017)PlayerAppGoalsAsstPointsShotsShot%SOGSOG%GWPk-AttGASavesSOForwardsWalters, Andrew000000%00%00-0000MidfieldersAgiasiotis, Petros000000%00%00-0000Amorosino, Francesco000000%00%00-0000Boehme, Greg000000%00%00-0000Cooke, Travis000000%00%00-0000Gonnella, Joe000000%00%00-0000Gonnella, Tony000000%00%00-0000Lockaby, Eli000000%00%00-0000Moreland, Lyndsey000000%00%00-0000Munts, Fortia000000%00%00-0000Santos, Rafael000000%00%00-0000Vargas, Gerald000000%00%00-0000DefendersDal Molin, Steven000000%00%00-0000Ekoue, Cedric000000%00%00-0000Graham, Austin000000%00%00-0000Roberts, R. J.000000%00%00-0000Shimazaki, Ryo000000%00%00-0000GoalkeepersGardan, Pierre000000%00%00-0000Rice, Joseph000000%00%00-0000TeamTotalOpponents
Legend App Appearances Asst Assists Shot% Shots for Goal Percent SOG Shots on Goal SOG% Shots on Goal Percent GW Game Winning Goals PK-Att Penalty Kicks-Attempts GA Goals Against SO Shut Outs Team high
MLS Draft The following members of the 2017 VCU Rams men's soccer team were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
Player Round Pick Position MLS club Ref. Rafael Andrade Santos 4 74 MF D.C. United
References