ROCK HILL, S.C.- The VMI men's soccer team scored its earliest goal of the season, and the first goal against the Winthrop Eagles in two years in the 5th minute, but it wasn't enough as Winthrop defeated VMI 6-3 Tuesday night at Eagle Field. The Keydets trailed 2-1 at the half, but a goal-fest ensued in the second frame, as Winthrop outscored the Keydets, 4-2 to take the match 6-3.
The game was chalk full of events early on, as the first two notable plays of the contests were goals, with one coming from the Keydets and one from the Eagles. Brian Harding earned his third assist of the season, teaming up with Sonny Landry to find Kip Zechman inside the 18, as Zechman scored his first goal of the season lining a shot into the lower left corner of the net past a diving Tom Banfield to give the Keydets the early 1-0 with 85 minutes to play.
Twelve minutes later, Winthrop's Josh Goldstein tied the contest up on a shot from 35 yards out. The midfielder then beat two defenders, and fired a strike to the top-right portion of the goal past a diving Brian Sowell to knot the tally at 1-1 with a large chunk of the contest to play.
Winthrop generated an outstanding opportunity with 15:26 left in the half, as Matt Stinson took a shot from 40 yards out that was headed for the back of the net, but was turned away by an outstanding Brian Sowell deflection to keep the contest at 1-1.
However, the Eagles would take a 2-1 lead six minutes prior to the half, as Josh Goldstein found Tomas Brennan with a through ball from the left side. Brennan hit a shot in traffic from the top of the 18 that found the bottom right of the net to give the Eagles the advantage.
At the intermission, Winthrop held a 9-6 shot advantage, with corner kicks even at 3-3.
Shortly after the second half began, the Keydets would knot up the score, as Harding would earn his second assist of the night, beating a pair of Winthrop defenders at the top of 18. The senior went on to send pass to Landry, who beat a defender of his own with a spin-o-rama move inside the six, finding the lower right portion of the goal to even the score at 2-2.
However, only 26 seconds later, Josh Goldstein sent a cross from 20 yards out on the far-right flank, finding the head of an unmarked Brennan, who squeaked the shot past Sowell to retake the lead at 3-2.
Four goals would be scored in the final 12 minutes, with Miquel Casajuana, Tintenda Chibaro and Adam Skonicki all finding the back of the net for Winthrop. VMI's final goal came in the 86th-minute, as a pair of seniors hooked up, with Zach Morgan finding Amir Shihata eight yards out on a cross for Shihata's second goal of the season.
Sowell made five saves in the losing effort, while Banfield made six in the win. Winthrop outshot the Keydets by a 22-18 margin, and also held a 8-7 corner kick advantage. The three goals scored by the Keydets ties a season-high of three goals that was also achieved in the first game of the year against UMBC. The match also marks the first time since 1998 the Keydets have played in a match where a combined nine goals were scored by each side.
The Keydets return to action Weds.,Oct. 20, as VMI will play host to the Radford Highlanders at 4 p.m. from Patchin Field. Live stats for the match will be available, as well as live video, as the match will be carried live on the Big South Network. Winthrop will travel to Radford on Sat., Oct. 16 to take on the Highlanders, in a match slated for 6 p.m.
