LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Men's Soccer will look to keep its home streak alive against Mercer at Patchin Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Keydets (4-5-2, 0-1-0 SoCon) hold a four-match winning streak at home, the best since 1994, but will need to go through the Bears (4-2-5, 0-0-1 SoCon), who were picked as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference. Saturday's match will also be Senior Day as VMI will honor its eight seniors during pregame.
Keys to the Keydets
Keydets dethrone Royals, drop SoCon opener. VMI tallied a 2-0 win against Regent before falling 2-0 to ETSU to begin conference play.
Breaking Conference Drought. The Keydets are searching for their first conference win since 2013 and their first SoCon victory since 2002.
New Marks. After the draw against the Highlanders, VMI has earned a result against the same D-I opponent (Radford) in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2013/2014.
Home Sweet Home. VMI has started 4-0 at home for the first time ever. The four-straight home wins is the longest such streak since 1994.
Home Goal Differential. The Keydets have outscored their opponents, 12-3, when playing on Patchin Field this season.
Martin the Martian. Grant Martin leads the team with three goals and seven points, the third and fourth most in the SoCon.
He's the Huang. Anthony Huang leads VMI in shots while tying in assists. He leads the league in shots and shots on target with 12.
No Breaks. Only three Keydets have played in all 11 matches:
Woongchan Oh,
Alexei Royar, and Martin
.
Leading the League. The Keydets lead all SoCon teams in shots and shots on target.
Top 25 in the Country. VMI ranks 21st in the nation with nearly five saves per game.
Three Straight for History. VMI recorded its third-straight result over a D-I opponent after defeating Howard and then drawing against Saint Peter's and Radford. It's the first time since 2010 that the Keydets have hit this mark.
First Time Since '01. With Grant and Murphy tallying weekly honors in back-to-back weeks, it's the first time VMI has earned back-to-back Player of the Week awards since 2001.
Game Winners. Huang,
Kyle Grant,
Peyton Gysel, and
Jesse Lee have each tallied game-winning goals.
Murphy Minutes. Goalkeeper
Zack Murphy has played in 886 minutes and has recorded 50 saves between the posts with two clean sheets.
Life Saver. Murphy ranks 10th in saves per game with five while standing 11th in total saves with 50. His 50 saves and five saves per game rank second in the conference.
Big Shots. Huang has posted nearly three shots a game and over one shot on goal per game.
Cole Mooney has accumulated 25 shots which is second in the conference.
Sharing is Caring. Nine different Keydets have recorded a goal while eight have earned an assist.
Scouting the Opponents
- Mercer comes into the weekend 4-2-5, 0-0-1 SoCon.
- Bears have tallied seven shutouts, ranking number one in the nation in shutout percentage at 63.6%.
- Mercer has earned results against North Carolina, Air Force, nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro, South Florida, and Memphis.
- Bears were predicted to win the conference and had four Preseason All- SoCon.
- Mercer leads the conference in corner kicks with 57.
- Bears rank 21st in the nation in save percentage with 80%.
- Trevor McMullen is top 50 in the country in goalie minutes (990), goals against average (81.8%), and save percentage (80%) while leading NCAA D-I with seven clean sheets.
- Sekou Agard and Barzee Blama lead the Bears with four goals apiece while Carlos Santamaria boasts four assists, the most in the SoCon. All three have eight points each.
- Blama leads the group with 23 shots and 10 shots on goal.
- William Pondeca and Agard lead the conference in minutes with 987.
Series History
- VMI is 0-18 against Mercer.
- First matchup was in 2010.
- Last season resulted in a 5-1 win for Mercer in Macon, Georgia.
- This will be the ninth meeting at VMI.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
