LEXINGTON, Va. - Three different players for The Citadel Bulldogs notched goals, helping their team defeat the VMI Keydets, 3-0, in the first round of the 2014 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Tournament, contested Wednesday afternoon at VMI's Patchin Field. It was the first conference tournament soccer game ever contested at VMI's home field, men's or women's, and was the first appearance for either team in a conference tournament since 2010.
With the victory, The Citadel moves on to play #1 Samford in the conference quarterfinals on Nov. 1. VMI's season ends with a 3-15-1 record and 2-7 SoCon mark.
After The Citadel (7-13, 2-7 SoCon) had taken a 1-0 lead into halftime, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, Vanessa Aponte, added an insurance goal in the 56th minute. The visitors then withstood a 10-minute offensive flurry from VMI and kept the Keydets off the board, opening the door for Lea Raedle's 89th minute goal to seal the win.
In the loss, Sydnie Bligh made nine saves for the Keydets, falling just one stop shy of her third straight double-digit save performance. Sam Millspaugh stopped three second-half shots for The Citadel. Both players were backup goalies that were starting due to injuries to the traditional starters, Emily Marbury and Naomi Carter, respectively.
The game started under only high clouds after a morning drizzle had cleared off by the opening kick, and the Bulldogs struck early. In the fifth minute, Aponte sent in a shot from distance that Bligh fell on, but bobbled in doing so. Mady Riegel then sent in a pair of shots, the first one of which Bligh stopped and the second of which hit the post, but a third try was good for the goal and a 1-0 Citadel lead.
That would be the score at halftime despite the Bulldogs holding an 11-1 edge in shots. Six saves from Bligh helped keep the margin at 1-0 after 45 minutes, but the visitors struck again in the 56th minute. A shot by Raedle was saved by Bligh, but the carom came back to Aponte and she converted the rebound for a 2-0 Bulldog lead with 34 minutes to play.
With 15 minutes to go, down 2-0, the Keydets turned up their offensive pressure. Amy Horney narrowly missed a header goal at 80:27, and three Sarah Putney corners went for naught as well. After a try by Adams went wide in the 87th minute, The Citadel had the next attack and took full advantage. Raedle got free near the top of the box and put an open shot past Bligh from 10 yards out, putting the contest out of reach with 1:44 to play.
In the setback, the Keydets were outshot 20-8, although just 9-7 in the second half, and faced a 6-4 deficit in corner kicks.
