LEXINGTON, Va. -- The 8th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies were too much for the Keydets to handle on Tuesday afternoon at Patchin Field, breaking open a 3-0 game with five second half scores to come away with the 8-0 victory. The Hokies remained unbeaten in their last ten tries (6-0-3), while the Keydets fall to .500 on the year at 5-5-1.
Eight different Hokies found the back of the net in today's game, and were led by Patrick Nyarko and Brent Hooper who each tallied a goal and an assist, as well as Georg Zehender who recorded two assists. For the Keydets, freshman David Hill had a team-best two shots in the game.
Nyarko opened the scoring in the first half with his fourth goal of the season in the 20th minute, finishing a Georg Zehender feed to give his team a lead it would not relinquish. Hokie senior Ben Nason netted his third of the year after converting a setup from Nyarko in the 27th minute. Just over two minutes later, junior Scott Dillie was there to clean up a James Gilson shot to push the score to 3-0 heading into halftime.
Virginia Tech held a 15-3 shot advantage in the first half, but VMI freshman goalie Brian Sowell once again came up with several big saves to keep the game close. Sowell would finish with nine saves on the day in just over 61 minutes of action.
There was no letting up for the Hokies in the second half, as they connected on five scores in the final 45 minutes. Both teams were able to play several of their reserves as the game wore down, including two goalie changes for each side. For VMI, senior Steve Phillips and Greg Hersh combined to see 28 minutes of action in net, while Virginia Tech goalies Brendan Dunn and Stefan Caulfield played the second half in replace on starter Markus Aigner.
For the game, Virginia Tech outshot VMI by a 28-5 margin while the Keydets earned four corner kicks to the Hokies' three. The game also only produced 14 fouls, with the Keydets committing eight to the Hokies' six.
VMI must now regroup and get ready to dive back into Big South Conference play as they host the Winthrop Eagles on Sunday, October 14 at Patchin Field. Game time will be at 12 p.m., and will be followed by the women's team taking on the High Point Panthers at 3 p.m. also in Big South action.
