HIGH POINT, N.C.- The VMI men's soccer team squared off against the Big South's best, the High Point Panthers, Sat., Oct. 30 at High Point's Vert Stadium, and were defeated 2-0 by the Panthers in Big South Conference action. VMI held the Panther attack in check in the first half, but were outscored 2-0 in the second frame to determine the unfavorable outcome.
The first-half was uneventful in terms of scoring, as the Keydet (2-10-2, 2-3 BSC) defense, which featured the first-collegiate start by freshman keeper Daniel Kitchen, shut down the High Point attack. However, the Panthers (13-3-1, 8-0 BSC) did manage to outshoot the Keydets by an 8-2 margin, as Fejiro Okiomah and Shane Malcolm each had a pair of strikes.
The most notable opportunity for the Panthers came just minutes before the half in the 43rd minute, as a foul against VMI in the area resulted in a High Point penalty-kick. The shot was taken by High Point's Ryan Bennett, which sailed wide of the goal to keep the score 0-0 heading into the half. The miss was the first unsuccessful penalty kick for a VMI opponent this season.
David Rochow and Amir Shihata were responsible for Keydet opportunities, which came in the 7th and 42nd minute of the first frame. Rochow's opportunity was a header off a cross, while Shihata's was a strike that sailed high of the frame.
High Point scored the first goal of the match in the 56th-minute, as Okiomah took a through-ball from Malcolm from outside the box, beating Kitchen to his right for his 10th goal of the season. The goal also marked the first time in the last three matches that the Keydets haven't scored first.
The Panthers would tack on another goal 15 minutes later, this time on a corner from the left flank. Shawn Sloan sent the cross that found the head of Adam Sewell, resulting in a header that hit the top-right portion of the back of the net to extend the Panther lead to the eventual final count of 2-0.
High Point held a substantial shot advantage in the match, outshooting the Keydets 22-3 on the night, as the only VMI shot of the second half came in the 57th-minute as an Amir Shihata shot was blocked.
Kitchen made seven stops on the night in his first action of the season, while High Point keeper Michael Chesler went untested in the victorious effort.
High Point wraps up its regular-season with a Nov. 6 matchup at Longwood at 6 p.m., while the Keydets close out their regular-season slate by hosting a pair of Big South contests from Patchin Field. The Liberty Flames make the short trip from Lynchburg on Tues., Nov. 2 for a 4 p.m. kick-off, while the regular-season concludes Sat., Nov. 6, as VMI takes on Presbyterian College at noon.
