FARMVILLE, Va. – Despite a late goal to cut the Longwood lead to 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining, the VMI men's soccer team came up short as the Lancers scored two insurance goals in the final moments for a 4-1 victory Friday night in Farmville, Virginia.

For the VMI goal, Keydet Todd Johnson took advantage of a defensive slip by the Lancers, stole an errant pass and shot it at keeper Carl Carpenter. The ball deflected off to VMI's Campbell Wood, who put it into the net for the Keydets' lone score for the night.

"It wasn't the result we wanted, but we can take some positives away," said VMI head coach Jon Freeman. "Our ability to create chances is improving. Our subs did a nice job of providing quality minutes. David Wright and Cam Wood did what was asked of them and gave us a spark that resulted in a hard-worked goal. We will learn from this and move on."

After a slow opening half, Longwood got on the board following a corner kick when Finnlay Wyatt sent it to freshman Willy Miezan, who knocked it into the near post at the 37:50 mark. The score put the Lancers up by a 1-0 score with seven minutes before the half.

Ten minutes into the second half, Longwood's Zach Crandall took on two Keydet defenders and shot an unassisted goal into the far back post to put the Lancers up 2-0. Both squads played slowball for the ensuing 25 minutes before Johnson's goal to cut the deficit.

Within three minutes of the VMI score, Miezan took to the offensive and scored two quick goals to earn a hat trick on the night and put Longwood up for good with seven minutes left in regulation. His second goal of the night (81:44) came after a cross from Zach Corcoran before scoring again one minute later (82:47) on an unassisted breakaway.

The Lancers outshot the Keydets by a 22-8 ratio with 11 on goal to VMI's five. Keydet goalie Alex Guerra picked up the loss despite seven saves for the night while Carpenter logged four saves for Longwood. The Lancers also tallied nine corner kick opportunities to the Keydets' two.

VMI returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 5, at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. The opening kick is slated for a 7 p.m. start.