RICHMOND, Va. – Snapping its losing streak and securing its first-ever win over VCU, the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team triumphed in Richmond with a 2-1 victory over the defending Atlantic 10 regular season champions Saturday night. Hugo Urdiales' set-piece goal in the 83rd minute clinched the win for the Maroon and Gold, improving their record to 2-8-2 overall and 1-3-1 in A-10 play.

"We're really proud of the guys for their performance tonight, obviously going down a goal, and then coming back from behind to score two unanswered was huge," said Loyola Chicago Head Coach Steve Bode. "The guys understood that we needed A-10, points if we want to have a postseason. So certainly that was on our minds but at the same time, it was just trying to focus on the process and the details of the performance, which the guys really, really did tonight and really performed well,"

How it Happened
The Ramblers sent off four shots, with just one being off-target, in the first 22 minutes of play. In the 27^th minute, VCU (4-5-3, 1-3-0 A-10) ended the scoring drought as Moussa Ndiaye netted the ball to the bottom left side of the goal.  

After the halftime break and in the 55^th minute, Grant Bailey sent a cross into the VCU penalty box where the ball ricocheted off a VCU defender and rolled into the net, leveling the match at 1-1.

From there, the 'Blers recorded three more shots until the team was awarded a free kick about 10 yards outside of the box in the 83^rd minute. Urdiales dug in and delivered a beautiful strike to the upper left side of the net and past the diving VCU keeper to give Loyola Chicago a 2-1 lead.

"Hugo's been striking the ball really well," continued Bode. "He took a deep breath, was calm over the ball, and struck it really clean to the goalkeepers' right and to the back of the net,"

With time winding down, the Ramblers' defensive line fended off the VCU attackers and didn't allow and single shot in the final seven minutes, sealing the road victory.

Notes

• The Ramblers now have four points in league play. The top-8 teams in the conference will qualify for the A-10 Tournament.
• Tonight's win marked Loyola's first over VCU. The all-time series is now deadlocked, 1-1-1.
• VCU had 16 shots while Loyola had 12. Each team logged four shots on-goal.
• Urdiales' goal marked his fourth of the season and his second in the past two matches.
• Keeper Aidan Crawford notched three saves between the posts.
• Loyola tallied five corner kicks.
• Julian Cisneros led the team with a season-high four shots.
• Quinten Blair also logged a season-best three shots, tying his career-high.

Up Next
Loyola Chicago returns to Rogers Park for a two-match homestand against La Salle (Oct. 19) and Olivet Nazarene (Oct. 22). Loyola's match against La Salle next Saturday will kick off at 2 p.m. CT and stream live on ESPN+.

"Getting this group a win was so necessary at this point because we've been doing a lot of good work, but we haven't gotten a lot of results, and they haven't gone our way. This feeling of release shows that our good work hasn't been for nothing, and we are capable. Yes, we're a young group making mistakes, but we're still growing. The belief in the group will really rise from this win. VCU won the league last year, so I think we've played all these games extremely tight. Every game we felt we've been in, but getting the final result is something we really needed. I'm hoping we use this momentum into La Salle next week and the rest of the season."