2025 lax senior day
Randall K. Wolf
12
LIU LIU 9-4, 4-3
15
Winner VMI VMI 10-4, 4-3
LIU LIU
9-4, 4-3
12
Final
15
VMI VMI
10-4, 4-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
LIU LIU 3 3 4 2 12
VMI VMI 3 6 5 1 15

Game Recap: Lacrosse |

Keydets top LIU on Senior Day

VMI will enter NEC Tournament with a Detroit loss Saturday night

LEXINGTON, Va. – Needing a win to increase its chances of qualifying for the Northeast Conference Tournament, the VMI lacrosse team came in clutch to earn a hard-fought 15-12 victory over visiting LIU Saturday afternoon at Drill Field #2 in Lexington.
 
With the win, the Keydets improve to 10-4 overall and 4-3 in NEC play while the Sharks fall to 9-4, 4-3 in league action.  The win marked VMI's first ever win over the Sharks, which held a 2-0 all-time series advantage over the Keydets.
 
VMI will await the outcome of the Detroit Mercy-Cleveland State game Saturday night to verify its qualification for the league tourney. If Detroit wins, they will enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed and LIU will snag the No. 3 spot. If Detroit loses, VMI will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed and LIU will sneak in as the No. 4.
 
A full breakdown of NEC Tournament tie-breaker scenarios can be found here.
 

 
Historic Win
*After scoring 15 goals on the day, VMI broke the program's single season goals record right before halftime previously set at 198. The Keydets have now logged 205 goals on the season.
*Senior Luke Rusterucci hit 74 points for the season, the most in a single season in program history, as he surpassed David Hope's record of 72.
*10 wins on the season marks VMI's most wins in 37 years (1988) when the Keydets earned 11 wins, which is the most all-time for a single season
*The graduating senior class of 2025 has now hit 27 wins for their VMI career – all Division I wins. The closest to the mark was the 1995 class which totaled 19 Division I wins. The 1995 class finished with 27 wins over four seasons, which the VMI class of 2025 just matched
 
Game Summary
Tied at 3-3 after one period, the Keydets found their offense in the second period to score six goals while holding LIU to three to go into halftime with a 9-6 advantage.
 
Both teams scored at will in a high-scoring third period which saw VMI score five goals to four for LIU. The teams clamped down with solid defense in the final stanza as only three goals were scored, but the Keydets held enough insurance with a 14-10 lead going into the fourth period that VMI was able to hold on for the win.
 
The Sharks struggled to penetrate a suffocating VMI defense in the fourth quarter and scored just two goals over the final 15 minutes of action. VMI's Rusterucci scored the Keydets' 13th goal at the 7:32 in what proved to be the game-winning goal.
 
Key Stats
*Jack Duncan-Bloom scored a second consecutive hat trick while sophomore Matt Nichols also reached three goals to lead the VMI attack with six combined goals.
*Rusterucci, Austin English and Dayton Bagwell all finished with two goals while Jack Myhre, Charles Hunt and Nate Golding each contributed one score
*Mark Regan and Aiden Zuhoski led the Sharks with three goals apiece of their own
*LIU won the face-off battle by a 21-8 count, but the Keydets held LIU to 16-21 on clearing attempts
 And went a perfect 3-3 on extra-man opportunities while LIU was held to 1-4 on powerplays
*VMI senior keeper Damian Levin earned the individual win with 15 saves on the day while LIU's Tyler Gresh picked up the loss despite 10 saves
 
 



 
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