Lexington, Va. - High Point University got two goals from their bench and held off the Keydets 2-1, Saturday afternoon, in a Big South men's soccer match-up at Patchin Field.

VMI (2-7, 0-3 Big South) drew first blood fourteen minutes into the game when freshman Charles Nweke (Virginia Beach, Va. / Cox) executed a beautiful cross field pass to junior Ryan King (Deer Park, Texas / Deer Park) who scored to put the Keydets up 1-0.

Twenty minutes later the Panthers (2-6-1, 1-0-1 Big South) evened it up when freshman Chris Maness scored his first goal of the year off the bench. His initial shot was stopped by VMI goalie Thomas Upton (Richmond, Va. / Godwin) but Maness converted the rebound for a goal and tied the game, 1-1.

That score changed just 24-seconds into the second half when High Point defender and non-starter Gavin Moss caught the VMI backfield off guard and scored on a pass from senior Matt Long.

Keydets' head coach Stephen Ross said despite the tough loss, his team battled hard in not only this game but also the entire season.

"Every game so far has been hard fought," he said. "We're playing good soccer. If we keep playing good soccer, we'll win."

The loss drops VMI to 0-3 in conference play.

The Keydets next game is at Patchin field on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. against Georgetown University.


SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 14:13 VMI KING, Ryan (1) (NWEKE, Charles)
2. 34:47 HPU MANESS, Chris (1) (unassisted)
3. 45:24 HPU MOSS, Gavin (1) (WOOD, Matt)

Shots: HPU 13, VMI 8
Saves: HPU 4 (LONG, Matt 4), VMI 8 (UPTON, Thomas 8)




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