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Keydets Drop 3-1 Decision to Howard in Men's Soccer

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Howard Bison connected on a pair of late goals to break a 1-1 tie and defeat the Keydets in men's soccer action at Greene Stadium on Wednesday. Despite outshooting Howard 21-18 in the contest, the Keydets fell for the third straight game by the final of 3-1. Parker Thurman netted his second goal of the season to provide the scoring for VMI.

With the win, Howard picks up its second win of the season to improve to 2-7-1, while the Keydets fall to 2-7.

Neither team was able to find the net in the first half of play, despite a handful of good scoring chances for both sides. Mike Lloyd hit the post in the 16th minute, while Howard keeper Chris Taylor grabbed five saves to keep VMI off the scoreboard in the opening session.

Howard's Lemuel Lyons opened the game's scoring in the second half, as he finished a give-and-go from teammate Joel Senior for his first goal of the season. Just over eight minutes later, however, the Keydets responded with the equalizer when Charles Nweke assisted fellow senior Thurman on his second tally of the season. The assist for Nweke was his third on the year, increasing his career point total to 77.

But after VMI regained the momentum, the Bison snatched it right back just five minutes later. Lyons connected on his second goal of the game in the 74th minute again assisted by Senior, and the Bison were back in front 2-1. They would add an insurance goal in the 82nd minutes by Jason Gross to snap a four-game losing streak with the 3-1 win.

In the game, VMI managed to outshoot the Bison 21-18, and hold a 5-2 edge in corner kicks, but were again unable to generate enough scores for the result. Part of that was the play of Howard's Taylor, who grabbed a career-high 11 saves. VMI's John Sollock started his second straight match and grabbed four saves in the game.

The Keydets will jump back into conference action as they round out their three-game road trip against High Point (1-6-2, 0-1 Big South) on Saturday, Sept. 30. Game is set for 7 p.m. at Richard Vert Soccer Stadium.

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