An UNOFFICIAL Website of fans, by fans, and for fans of
The Virginia Military Institute Soccer Program
VMI Mens Soccer
2005 Game Summaries
Coastal Carolina Tops Winthrop in Conference Championship Game
Keydets Push Coastal Carolina to the Limit in 2-1 Loss
110 % effort from everyone on the field, combined with a tremendous amount of heart, put VMI in position to pull off a big upset in it's semi-final match against Coastal Carolina. After allowing Coastal to go up 1-0 in a somewhat sluggish first half, the Keydets returned from the halftime break like a team on a mission. Coastal was up for the fight too, playing like the defending conference champ.
With thirty one minutes remaining, Mike Lloyd evened the score for the Keydets with a great shot and the assist going to Kevin Aldrich. Great defensive play and another spectacular performance from keeper John Sollock, kept the Chanticleers from putting the ball in the net, despite quite a few opportunities. At the other end of the field, the Keydet offense was applying plenty of pressure on the Coastal defense.
As the clock was winding down, it was obvious that this game could go either way. Coastal managed to put one in with a minute and a half left to go to claim the victory, but the attitude on VMI's sideline after the game was not one of defeat. It was an attitude of accomplishment, of knowing they gave their all in the tournament and proving that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Big South Conference.
VMI's offense closes in on Mike Lloyd's goal.
VMI - CCU Tourney Game Photo Page
Hanna and Nweke Named to All-Tournament Team
Keydets Open Conference Tourney With 2-1 Win Over Radford
Goals from Josh Hanna(unassisted) and Chuck Nweke(assist from Dylan Reed), coupled with some great goaltending from John Sollock send the Keydets to the semi-finals Friday night.
Watching the game via the Big South Live Video Feed was interesting. It wasn't exactly ESPN, but was still very enjoyable. If only the screen hadn't gone blank for a few minutes, we would have seen VMI's second goal. Our first goal was great. Josh Hanna took the ball at about midfield, dribbled down past a few Radford defenders, ran into a pack of Radford players at about the penalty kick hash mark, spun around a time or two, and the next thing we saw was the ball shooting out of the pack into the goal. With less than clear graphics on the screen, he looked kind of like the Tazmanian Devil, zigzagging down the field, spinning in a blur, then somehow blasting out a shot.
Sorry we missed Chuck's goal due to technical difficulties, but we did see John Sollock make several great saves and the defense hold off numerous late game attempts from Radord.
Hats off to the Keydets for their first Big South Tournament victory.
High Point 2 – VMI 0
Regular season comes to an end with Senior Day honoring First Classmen Kyle fricke and Kevin Aldrich. John Sollock makes a season high eight saves.
Coastal Carolina 4 – VMI 2
Josh Hanna and Wythe Horbal score for the Keydets. Stephen Anderson gets an assist.
Liberty 3 – VMI 2
Mike Lloyd and Dylan Reed score for the Keydets.
Winthrop 4 – VMI 0
Winthrop proved why they are ranked 12th in the nation in scoring. The action was closer than the final score and there were plenty of exciting moments for Keydet fans. John Sollock made several nice saves and VMI got off ten shots. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the firepower of the Eagles.
VMI Tops Lynchburg College 4-1
Chuck Nweke wakes up with two goals and two assists. Wythe Horbal and Mike Lloyd get one goal. Josh Hanna and Kieth Simpson get assists. John Sollock records four saves in earning his third victory of the year in goal.
Keydets Get 2-1 Win in OT Against UNC-A
VMI got it's first conference win of the season in a very short overtime. Winning goal scored by Josh Hanna! Game tying goal scored by Stephen Anderson with an assist from Josh Hanna. VMI gets upper hand in shots (14-9) and Shots on Goal (7-3). John Sollock records two saves in goal. Both VMI goals were scored while we were a man down. The team treated the fans to the Doxology at the end of the match. The rats lined the field for the entire match! It was a beautiful day for soccer at Patchin Field!
Birmingham-Southern Defeats VMI 3-2
Josh Hanna and Wythe Horbal score for Keydets with assists from Kevin Aldrich and Charles Nweke. John Sollock plays in goal and records six saves.
Keydets “Slip” By Generals 3-0
VMI wins at Washington & Lee on a rain slick field. Charles Nweke leads off the scoring with an assist from Austin Keller. Josh Hanna scores the second goal on a direct kick. Kevin Aldrich closes out the scoring with an assist from Keith Simpson. Twenty-Two Keydets see action.
Hats off to the WLUR broadcast team for some really great internet coverage.
Hear WLUR postgame comments on VMI
Hear WLUR postgame scoring recap
Radford 4 – VMI 0
Keydets are shutout for the first time this year.
Keydets and Spiders Battle to 1-1 Tie
Great Game. Big Crowd. It's said that a tie is like kissing your sister, this one was like kissing your “pretty” sister. A great show of soccer by both teams with a fitting end for the way both teams played.
...And we thought the William & Mary game was action packed. Richmond has a very talented quick striking offense that kept our defense on their toes all night, and when they did their job and got the ball back up front to our offense, we struck back with gusto. Both sides got off plenty of good shots that had us ready to jump for joy or praying for Tommy to pull through(as he did on several occasions).
Good tough play from both teams, quite a few fouls, and even more hits that did not bring a call. Several stoppages in play to allow players to recover from the freight trains that hit them. Overall, a relatively clean, extra-aggressive match.
Offense looked great! Defense looked great! And yes, Richmond looked great. Net result, what may very well be one of the most exciting soccer games ever played by VMI. Mike Lloyd's goal wasn't only a tremendous shot, it followed some nice fancy footwork to get into position.
Webmaster's “Player of the Game Award” goes to Jeremy Clements. Solid defense all night long and great feeds to the offense. A truly great performance.
Official attendence: 303. When VMI scored, it sure looked like more than half stood up, so we are going to claim 152 Keydet Fans in attendence; parents, family and friends, and quite a few alumni. A lot of alumni were out for their first ever VMI Soccer game, and you can bet they were impressed. Former players in the crowd included All-Southern Conference Goalie Gary Morgan '81, Gary's backup keeper Kendall “Captain Video” Avery '82, Dave Kohler '82, and Derek McCown '89. There were probably a few more that we did not recognize.
You can bet that there were a lot of people talking about the game around the coffee pot the next day.
Please Note: Coaches Corner has been updated.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Game Article
Sorry. No Pictures. Lighting was terrible.
VMI 1 – Howard 0
The Keydets improve their record to 4-3 with 1-0 victory over Howard. Our goal was scored early in the first half by Wythe Horbal assisted by Mike Lloyd. Tommy Upton records his second shutout of the season with assistance from defenders Kevin Aldrich, Austin Keller, Jeremy Clement, Josh Van Cleef, Kyle Fricke, and Barret Luxhoj. The team looks strong heading into their mid week game at University of Richmond - Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. The women's team came out to support the team and we had a good many spectators. The weather was cool and clouding, which was a surprise but a welcome one.
It was Senior
Keydets Defeat Formidable Campbell 3-2, Improve Record to 3-3
Wythe Horbal scores the game winner in the 75th minute with an assist from Charles Nweke. Mike Lloyd and Keith Simpson also score for VMI as the Keydets defeat the team that knocked off 23rd ranked Davidson last week and started the week ranked 11th in Division I scoring.
Indians 2 – Keydets 1 (Yes, we can call them Indians. Our webmaster is an Indian and he's damn proud of it.)
To say that VMI and William & Mary battled it out on Patchin field Saturday would be an understatement. Both teams showed up ready to play, and from the time that the ref (the one that looks like the magician from “Frosty and the Snowman”) blew the opening whistle 'til the time that he blew it at the end of the game, both teams went at it like there was no tomorrow. The result for the large crowd on hand was 90 minutes of non-stop action. (Crowd estimated at about 150 plus a few companies of Rats that “chose” to be there.)
A total of 33 fouls were called in the match, but they were mostly the result of good aggressive play. A well refereed match kept the action going. Well, maybe both sides had good reason to question a few calls, but overall, good officiating led to a very good match.
Both goals scored by the Indians, were picturesque, well placed shots. Chuck Nweke drilled home VMI's score with a penalty kick. While William & Mary maintained an edge in shots on goal and corner kicks, the action was close, and you can bet that no one from William and Mary was resting comfortably until the final whistle blew. VMI went on a tear in the final fifteen minutes that saw several scoring opportunities fall just short.
Assoc. Coach Craig Roberts: “Our young team is beginning to mature and the lessons we have learned can only help us in our upcoming games.”
Tommy Upton after punching the ball away.
SITE DISCLAIMER: Welcome to the Friends of VMI Soccer website. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Virginia Military Institute or any of it's Alumni Agencies and is not an official news page. This site is for the sole enjoyment of the fans of VMI Soccer. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed and all stats are unofficial. Satire may be used.