LEXINGTON, Va. - In the 34th meeting between local rivals VMI and Washington & Lee, the Keydets (5-4-1) posted an impressive overall performance to defeat the Generals (4-4-1) Wednesday evening at Alston Parker Watt Field by the final of 3-0.

"They (W&L) always play us hard and make it hard for us to score," said VMI head coach Stephen Ross. "It's a competitive game every year and we hope to see more people come out to see it in the future."

Halfway through a rather fast-moving first half, the Keydets got their offense clicking when freshman defender Austin Keller lobbed a perfectly placed pass over the defense to junior forward Charles Nweke who had made his way behind the defense, and then let Nweke do what he does best...make plays. After a few touches to his right, Nweke slipped the ball past General's goalkeeper Mike Stanton for his third goal of the season to put the Keydets up early 1-0, the only score of the first half.

VMI came out strong in the second half and after less then two-minutes had ticked off the clock. Sophomore midfielder Josh Hanna made an impressive attack towards the goal, but was fouled at the top of the box right as he was firing off a shot on goal. Hanna was rewarded for his efforts on the ensuing free kick when Nweke stepped over the ball and let Hanna rip a blast that found its was past General's keeper Jim Tartaglia to give the Keydets a 2-0 lead.

"We continually want to play faster with the ball," added Ross. "We were focused on ball movement and creating more scoring chances by upping the speed of play. While we started off a little slower, we did a good job of that early in the second and were rewarded."

VMI rounded out the scoring in impressive fashion twenty-minutes later when freshman speedster Keith Simpson back-heeled a ball perfectly by the General's defense and left Kevin Aldrich with an open shot on goal. Aldrich took advantage and put the ball in the back of the net off a nice shot from the left side of the goal. Aldrich, the team captain who usually plays in the back line, has seen a little time in the midfield and capitalized today for his first career goal at VMI.

"We're getting contributions from a lot of different people this year," said Ross. "The guys really understand what their roles are on this team, and are executing well most of the time. We still need to do so more consistently, but we are certainly improving."

The defense held check for the remainder of the game and minimized the scoring opportunities for the Generals. VMI goalkeeper Thomas Upton earned his third shutout of the season by recording four saves, bringing him within one of Gary Morgan ('80) for most career shutouts at VMI with seven.

VMI looks to keep its momentum going as they head to Birmingham, Ala. on Saturday to face Birmingham-Southern (5-3-1), who currently sits at the second spot in the Big South Conference.

"We have a lot of work to do to get ready for Saturday (against Birmingham-Southern)," said Ross. "But this gives us a little boost of confidence and I feel good about this team heading down for our second conference game."

Game time for Saturday, Oct. 8 is set for 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.


Game Notes:

-Tonight's game was the 34th matchup between VMI and Washington & Lee.

-VMI won the first game in 1977 in Lexington, 3-1

-VMI has 7 games remaining (4 home, 3 away)

-Nweke is once again leading the team in points this season with ten (3 goals, 2 assists)

-VMI outshot the General's 16-11