LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Men's Soccer will welcome Top Drawer Soccer's No. 11 Furman to Patchin Field on Saturday for the Drew Ross Memorial Foundation Match, sponsored by Seasons Bakery & Café.
The Keydets (2-8-3, 0-2-0) aim to snap a three-game skid and seek their first Southern Conference victory of the season, while the Paladins (8-1-4, 1-0-1) look to continue their dominant season with a league-leading ninth victory.
Saturday's match will be a charity match for the Drew Ross Memorial Foundation, an organization formed in honor of the late Drew Ross, who passed away in the line of duty in 2018. The team will honor Drew's memory during the match, with special remarks from Stephen Ross, VMI Soccer's all-time winningest coach and the father of Drew, at halftime. Admission to the match is free, and VMI invites all soccer fans and alumni to come together for a day of remembrance and camaraderie. To learn more or to make a donation, visit drewross.org.
Keys to the Keydets
VMI Narrowly Falls to UNCG. Despite a strong defensive stand in the second frame, VMI could not come back from an early deficit, falling to No. 23 UNCG, 2-0, on the road last weekend.
Standing Tall. VMI held UNCG to just six shots in the final frame, the fourth-fewest shots allowed in a second half this season.
200 Piece. Goalkeeper Zack Murphy recorded his 200th save against the Spartans, making his 201 career saves the fifth-most in program history.
No Days Off. Four Keydets have played in all 13 matches this season:
Thimson Duolo,
Jack Yough,
Timofey Dovgalyuk, and
Jordan Savage. Dovgalyuk is the only Keydet to have started in all matches, and one of two players to collect over 1,000 minutes played.
Racking Minutes. Zack Murphy has played 1,000 goalie minutes this year, ranking 64th nationally, which brings his career total to 4,092, which ranks third all-time at VMI.
Household Name. Making his mark in his first collegiate season is
Thimson Duolo, who leads the Keydets with three goals, while boasting two assists. Duolo ranks sixth in the SoCon with 23 shots, third with 12 shots on goal, and ninth with three goals.
Top 50. VMI ranks in the top 50 nationally in saves per game with over four.
Dishing It Out. Jesse Lee has tallied a team-leading three assists this season, along with a second-best five points.
Young Stat Leaders. All three goal leaders are freshmen:
Rowen Choi,
Jack Yough, and
Thimson Duolo. Duolo and Choi are also two of the top three in total points. Joining the young squad with the second-most assists on the team is
Sam Dowdy. Yough has played 1,076 minutes on the back line, the most for VMI this season.
Life Saver. Zack Murphy ranks 20th among D-I goalies with 46 saves, the best in the league, and 39th with over four saves per game, the second-most in the conference.
Scouting the Paladins
- Furman is 8-1-4 on the season, with a 1-0-1 SoCon record.
- The Paladins were ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches poll two weeks ago, received votes last week, but were left out this week.
- Top Drawer Soccer has Furman ranked 11th nationally.
- The Paladins are 23rd in RPI.
- Furman picked up a dominating ranked win over No. 8 Gardner-Webb, along with securing ranked draws against No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 8 Duke, and No. 9 San Diego.
- In the league, the Paladins tied against Mercer on the road before escaping ETSU, 3-2, last Saturday.
- Furman ranks third in the country with 31 total goals. The Paladins also rank in the top 10 with 94 points and 32 assists, while ranking in the top 25 in scoring offense, points per game, goal differential, and assists per game.
- Diego Hernandez leads the charge with seven goals and seven assists with 21 points, putting him in the top 25 nationally in all three categories.
- Ivan Horvat has a sub-one goals allowed average with 37 saves, including two shutouts.
- Head Coach Doug Allison has been at the helm since 1995, earning over 350 wins, which is top 25 in NCAA history.
Series History
- VMI is 1-41-1 all-time against Furman.
- The first meeting dates back to 1976, when the Keydets tied with the Paladins at home.
- VMI's last win over Furman was in 1977.
- Last season, the Keydets fell to the Paladins on the road, 4-1.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
