#1 Winthrop Knocks #8 VMI Out of Big South Men's Soccer Championship with 2-0 Victory

Men's Soccer VMIKeydets.com

#1 Winthrop Knocks #8 VMI Out of Big South Men's Soccer Championship with 2-0 Victory

Score: #1 Winthrop 2, #8 VMI 0
Site: Radford, Va. (Patrick D. Cupp Mem. Stadium)
Records: Winthrop (13-3-3, 5-1-1); VMI (2-15-1, 0-7)



RADFORD, Va. -- For the second straight meeting, the Winthrop Eagles put on an impressive offensive performance against the Keydets by firing off 26 shots. And while the Eagles only managed to find the back of the net twice, it was enough to defeat VMI 2-0 in the first round of the Big South Conference Men's Soccer Championships.

"Our guys were excited for the game," said VMI head coach Ben Freakley. "They had a lot of hope and energy coming in, but Winthrop is a good team and there's a reason they're the conference champs. I think that we played them tough for the second straight time."

It didn't take much time for the high-flying Eagles to get its offense going. In just the 3rd minute of play, Winthrop midfielder David Kenga hit a rebound shot from about 35-yards out that whistled past the outstretched arms of VMI keeper Thomas Upton.

The Eagles offense controlled a majority of the play in the first half of action, taking 15 shots in the opening session to just one for the Keydets. Upton kept the Keydets in the contest with a host of clutch saves, securing six in all in the first half.

The Keydets best scoring chance came just minutes into the second half of play. Senior forward Mike Lloyd beat a pair of defenders down the sideline and fed Charles Nweke in front of the net. Nweke secured the ball, turned and fired, only to see his shot ricochet off the crossbar and into Winthrop keeper Patrick Mitrovich's hands.

The Eagles, however, would put the game out of reach with a little over 13-minutes remaining when Big South leading scorer Saidi Isaac knocked in a shot from point blank range to give his team a two-goal cushion, and a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Winthrop picked up the 2-0 victory to advance to the second round of the Big South Conference Championships. They will face the #4 Liberty Flames, who knocked off #5 Birmingham-Southern earlier today, in tomorrow's meeting at 4 p.m.

In the match, The Eagles outshot VMI by a final margin of 26-3, and held the advantage in corner kicks, 11-1. Upton had another solid outing for the Keydets, grabbing ten saves to keep his team close. His counterpart, Mitrovich, was seldom tested and needed to make just two saves in the game.

Six Keydets played their final match in a VMI uniform today. Finishing up their soccer careers today were Nweke, Lloyd, Upton, Parker Thurman, Addison Palanza and team captain Josh Van Cleef. The Keydets finish a frustrating 2006 season with a 2-15-1 record, and an 0-8 mark against conference opponents.

"I have a lot of respect for the seniors, and the time they put in here," added Freakley. "I feel bad that we couldn't do more today for them."

Talking about the future of the program after the completion of his first season at the helm, Freakley noted:

"Recruiting is our number one priority. We'll have a very economical spring, and make the most of our time as we move forward. But I do think that we have some good freshman, sophomores and juniors that can do some good things for us."

Game Notes:

-Winthrop is now 7-0-1 against the Keydets.
-VMI falls to 1-4 in Big South Conference postseason play.
-VMI's Josh Van Cleef and Charles Nweke finish their careers after playing 76 games, the most in school history.
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