LEXINGTON, Va.- Despite being outshot by a 32-12 margin, the VMI men's soccer team earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw Friday afternoon against the St. Francis (N.Y.) Terriers in match two of the 2010 Dr. Jay Sculley Memorial Tournament.
The match began with the Terriers (0-2-1) controlling the majority of the action, as Adam Maabdi and John Johansson each had opportunities, but were turned away by VMI's (0-2-1) keeper, senior Brian Sowell, to keep the match even early on.
VMI was able to muster a pair of opportunities 18 minutes into the contest, as junior Brandon Gary's try on net was turned away by St. Francis' Curtis Julien. Gary's strike lead to an offensive flurry for the Keydets, as only a few minutes later Matt Seinfeld had a try from 24 yards out that was wide left.
The stingy Keydet defense helped keep the powerful Terrier offense in check, stunting several more St. Francis opportunities before the half came to a close.
The pace of the match increased even more in the second half, with freshman Chase Barnett providing early pressure for the Keydets. Barnett's high work rate resulted in several other opportunities, as classmate Payton Case took a shot that went wide of the net from 30 yards out, and was followed by senior Brian Harding's takeaway inside eight yards out that was stopped by Julien.
St. Francis began to impose their will offensively, as the Keydet defense would bend, but not break. From the 65th minute until the final 10 minutes of play, the Terriers provided constant pressure offensively, but several saves by Sowell and defensive fortitude by the VMI defenders prevailed.
Still tied 0-0 with 8:30 left, the Keydets had their best chance of the second stanza, as a cross by senior Zach Morgan sailed through the six, but was cleared out by the Terrier defense to serve as the final VMI opportunity before overtime.
Having been outshot 26-6 in regulation, VMI kept St. Francis' top offensive weapons in John Sallhag and Maabdi in check, who had 18 shots between them.
Early in the first overtime, VMI came up with a pair of solid pushes on offense by Seinfeld and Morgan, but were stopped by St. Francis' defense, who were up the challenge when called upon throughout the match.
The second overtime provided much of the top action from the match, as a two-on-one break for the Terriers inside the 18 was broken up by Zaher Shihata. It wasn't until the waning moments of the match that the Keydets would have their best opportunity, as Case sent a cross that found the foot of a streaking sophomore Kyle Farmer inside the six, but his shot bent just wide of the right post, keeping tally at its eventual final count of 0-0.
With the tie, both sides now stand at 0-2-1 on the young season. Julien made four saves for the Terriers, while Sowell had eight stops for the Keydets.
Day two of the Sculley Tournament begins Sun., Sept. 12 at 1 p.m., as St. Francis will take on Liberty at 1 p.m., followed by the Keydets facing Marshall at 3:30 p.m. in the final match of the tournament.
In the opening match earlier today, Liberty and Marshall played to a 1-1 draw, putting all teams on equal terms in the tournament standings.
