LEXINGTON, Va. – In the final match of the regular season, VMI Men's Soccer made history with its first Southern Conference win since 2002 after defeating East Tennessee State on Saturday.
 
It took 87 matches, but the Keydets (3-11-3, 1-4-0) came away with their first SoCon win in 23 years after a well-earned 2-1 victory over the Buccaneers (2-8-4, 2-3-0). This is the first win over ETSU in program history.
 
 
Key Stats
- VMI had 10 shots, with five on goal. Seven of the 10 shots came in the first frame.
- Both goal-scoring Keydets were freshmen: Ricky Perez and Jack Yough.
- Yough tops the team leaderboard with three goals this season, while Perez enters the scoring column with his first career goal.
- Jesse Lee dished out his fourth assist.
- Zack Murphy made an outstanding six saves.
- Jordan Savage tallied a team-high four shots with two on target.
- VMI had five corner kicks, the most in eight matches.
-Two goals scored are the most in a SoCon match since 2016.
- Head Coach Nick Regan records his 15th win.
 

 
Scoring Summary
- VMI struck first right before halftime, with a three-on-one breakaway that ended with a Perez footer past the ETSU goalie (42:37) for the first SoCon goal of the season.
- Within a few minutes after the break, the Keydets went up 2-0 after Yough won the fight for the ball inside the goalie box (50:53).
- The Bucs scored in the final three minutes off a corner kick to prevent a shutout (87:05).
 

 
 
Next Up
The Keydets begin their battle for a SoCon title on Friday in the first round of the conference tournament. VMI's opponent and game time are TBD.
 
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.