SPARTANBURG,
S.C.- ?The VMI men's soccer team dropped its fifth match of the season by
one goal Sun., Sept. 18 against the USC Upstate Spartans as the Keydets were
defeated 1-0 on a Hakeem King goal in the 64th minute of action. The Keydets
outshot the Spartans 5-4 in the first half, while sophomore Daniel Kitchen earned his
first start of the season in goal.
VMI (0-7), dodged a bullet in the
22nd minute, as a Jan Wienholt hit the post, serving as the best chance of the first
half for the Spartans. The Keydets had five shots in the first half, two of which came
from junior David Rochow. The most notable try of the opening half came on a header
by Rochow in the 39th minute of action that sailed narrowly wide of the net as the
contest went into the half 0-0.
USC Upstate (3-3) had three
early shots in the second half, and were rewarded for the offensive pressure in the
64th minute as Colin Francis served a ball in off of a failed VMI clearance that found
Hakeem King. King went on to beat VMI keeper junior keeper Taylor Feuerstein, who
relieved the starter, Kitchen, midway through the first half, to give the Spartans the
1-0 lead and eventual game-winner.
Senior Ayao Sossou had two
valiant efforts to knot the score in the final 22 minutes of action, as he sent a header
from just outside the six that was turned away by Upstate keeper Jason McCabe.?
Sossou sent another shot on goal in the 81st minute that sailed narrowly wide, while
sophomore Aaron White had the first VMI shot of the afternoon with 4:08 to play,
which was struck high.
Kitchen played the first 34
minutes of the contest in goal and made one save before giving way to Feuerstein,
who allowed one scored and stopped four Spartan shots. McCabe made five saves in
the victory. A quartet of Keydets, Sossou, Rochow, White, and sophomore Chase
Barnett all had a pair of shots for VMI.
The Keydets return to the
friendly confines of Patchin Field after four-consecutive road games on Weds., Sept.
21 to host the Longwood Lancers at 4 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the
Big South Network, and live stats will be available.
For further information, follow
@VMI_Soccer on Twitter.
