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Game Summaries Fall 2008
Freshman of the Year: Olivia Moore
First Team All-Conference: Olivia Moore, Audrey Falconi
Second Team All-Conference: Celine Ziobro
All Freshman Team: Olivia Moore, Sarah Strand
Academic All-Conference: Audrey Falcon
Thursday: Keydets Knock Off High Point 2-1
Gabby McCarron scores her first collegiate goal, heading in a Megan Strand free kick. Christina Gontarski nets the game winner off a great feed from Olivia Moore.
Friday: Great Game vs. Radford Ends with Highlanders Claiming 2-1 Victory
Olivia Moore closes out the season with one more goal. Coaches comments from Bigsouthsports.com sum up the game very well.
Radford Head Coach Ben
Sohrabi
“First I want to give a lot of
credit to VMI. It is the best they have ever played against us. I thought they
worked hard, were well organized and their coach did a great job of getting them
ready for this game. They have had a great season and congrats to them. For us,
we started the game off a little bit slow. We needed to get into a rhythm of
things. I actually think the goal they scored helped wake us up. I thought the
second half, we played as good as we’ve played all season but just didn’t finish
a few. A great Big South match and we are now looking forward to the
Final.”
VMI Head Coach Bryan
Williams
“What a great game of
soccer. In the first half in particular, my players came out ready to
play, and we put together one of our best halves of the season. In the
second half, Radford came out and right out of the gate put a lot of pressure on
us and found the early goal. It’s a shame that was the one that killed
us. I give them a lot of credit, they held the ball well and continued to
put pressure on us. I’m proud of every girl on this team and pleased with
how this season has gone for them. For us to make these kinds of strides
with this team is a huge accomplishment.”
Sunday: Megan Strand and Celine Ziobro Named to All-Tournament Team
Radford Defeats Coastal Carolina 2-1 to Claim Championship
One More First: The culmination of this year's success, combined with the event's of this year's tournament have created the first genuine VMI Women's Soccer rivalry; with our neighbors to the South, Radford University. You can bet that VMI-Radford contests will be heated and spirited for years to come. Radford got the best of us this year. Wait 'til next year.
“This is a tough one to lose but give VMI credit for scoring on its opportunity,” commented UNC Asheville coach Michele Cornish. “We had some opportunities but just couldn’t score. We congratulate VMI on the win. They have done a great job this year.”
October
18: 
VMI 2 - Appalachian State
0
Solid 90 Minutes Against
a Solid Opponent Nets A Solid First
Win
Alumni Day crowd was treated not only to a great win, but also to a very great game. Excellent soccer, plenty of good action at both ends of the field. A thrill to watch, and the celebration was pretty fun too.
Rat Andrew Self opened the scoring(first collegiate goal) with a very pretty shot in the first half. Brian Harding got the second goal shortly after halfime with another beautiful shot.
With captain Barrett Luxhoj ailing on the bench, Rat Brandon Gary anchored the defense at sweeper, and the Keydets gave the App State offense fits all day. Keeper Brian Sowell pulled off a couple of his "How the heck did he do that" saves to secure the shut out.
In case you're wondering what type of team App State has this year, they entered the game ranked 10th in the NSCAA/Addidas South Region Poll.
October 18: Women Get Third Conference Victory with 3-1 Win Over High Point
At 3-1-1, Keydets have second highest winning percentage(.700) in the conference (5-2 Coastal has .714)
Chrissy Beach, Sarah Strand, and Amanda Berrios score goals to give VMI a 3-0 lead after 32 minutes of play. Heidi Beemer (6 saves) and the defense hold off a potent High Point offense that has scored three or more goals in five games this season.
October 12: Austin Peay 4 - Women 1
Megan Strand gets her third goal of the season.
October 12: Winthrop 4 - Men 0
October 8: Howard 3 - Men 1
Jose Andueza gets his first goal of the season.
October 8: Radford 4 - Women 1
Olivia Moore scores her 11th goal of the season.
October 4: The Monkey is in the Crosshairs
Men Go to Overtime Again
It looked like VMI might pull off their first win when Barrett Luxhoj's goal gave them a 1-0 lead with eightteen minutes to play, but Lady Luck eluded the Keydets once more. Two straight overtime losses. It took two straight overtime losses for the women's team to catch fire. It looks like the kindling is starting to burn under the men's team.
October 4: Women Remain Undefeated in Conference
Moore's Late Goal Nets Tie With Charleston Southern
Time was running out, and it looked like VMI's Home Hot Streak might be coming to an end, but Olivia Moore pulled another trick out her magic bag with just over two minutes to play in regulation, and the Keydets walk away with a Happy 1-1 tie. Defender Alexi Staton gets her second assist in two games. Heidi Beemer makes eight saves as the defense continues to give opposing offenses fits. Amanda Berrios led the Keydets with three shots, putting two of them on goal.
October 1: Women Continue Roll
Conference Record Improves to 2-0 with 3-0 victory over Winthrop
With Alexi Staton stepping up for the injured Audrey Falconi, the defense continues to keep opponents scoreless. In addition, Staton and co defender Celine Ziobro also recorded assists. Heidi Beemer gets the shutout in goal. Amanda Berrios pops off a quick goal at the 11 minute mark. A.J. Baker nets another just before halftime, with an assist from Kat Underwood. Chrissy Beach ices the cake, scoring 12 minutes into the second half.
September 28:Women Earn 5-0 Win Over Delaware State
While the final score was 5-0, Delaware State put up a very good fight and the Keydets certainly had to work for this one. Angela Redmond and the defense get a lot of credit for keeping the Hornets off the board.
Olivia Moore really came to life in the first half, securing another hat trick that has propelled her to Big South Confernce Player of the Week. Chrissy Beach and Megan Strand also added goals for the Keydets.
Women vs Delaware State Photo Page
September 28: Somebody Shoot the Monkey!
Men Battle Coastal into double OT until Second Red Card puts them two men down
Once again, great game, lousy result (3-2), but plenty be proud of. Team looked great, pretty goals, great saves, good ball movement, good aggressive play. Unforunately, the agressive play led to two red cards that definitely put VMI at a disadvantage. We won't complain about the refereeing because we believe in the Big South Sportsmanship Code.
Daniel Welch opens the scoring with his first goal as a Keydet. Tony Nweke gets his first goal of the season. Brian Sowell stops another penalty kick with an incredible save.
It's Here!
Men vs Coastal Carolina Photo Page
September 24: Women Open Conference Play in a Big Way
VMI 2 - Liberty 0
Christina Gontarski gets the game winner with her first collegiate goal. Olivia Moore adds the insurance goal. Heidi Beemer gets her first shutout. Coach Williams praises everybody.
Big South Conference Standings
September 23: W&L 2 - Men 0
September 20: Men Battle Longwood to the End
After spotting Longwood two goals in the first half, the Keydets' played an exceptionally strong second half and came extremely close to forcing overtime. Goals by Sonny Landry and Patrick Karnwie and great play in goal from Brian Sowell kept this one exciting until the very end as the Keydet offense continually presured the goal near the end. The fairly unanimous feeling of Keydets Fans follwing this one: "It's Coming".
Patrick Karnwie gets his second goal of the season at Longwood.
Men vs Longwood Photo Page (New Photos Added 9/28)
September 19, 21: Women Hit Stiff Competition Out West
Northern Arizona 3 - VMI 1
Boise State 2 - VMI 1
September 16: Men Keep It Close, Fall to NC State 3-1
Septmeber 14: Women Drop Another Close One: Navy 1 - VMI 0
September 12: Women Top South Carolina State 6-0
Angela Redmond gets the shutout in goal. Olivia Moore gets her first Hat Trick. Chrissy Beach gets her first two goals of the season. Kat Underwood gets her first goal ever.
September 12: Wofford Tops Men 1-0
September 6: Keydets Shine in Win Over Campbell
VMI Tops the Camels 3-1
Scoring three goals and winning a game against an Atlantic Sun Conference foe are certainly things to be proud/happy/ectastic about but the thing the Keydets can boast about most of all is the manner in which this game was won: Good, Consistent, Team Oriented, Controlled play from everyone on the field for just about all 90 minutes. Goals were scored by Megan Strand, Olivia Moore(her first collegiate), and A.J. Baker, but if we wanted to list the stars of the game, we'd have to copy the roster.
Women vs Campbell Photo Page (New Photos Added 9/11)
September 6: Keydets Show Much Improvement
Second Half Rally Falls Short as E. Tennesee State Tops VMI 2-1
VMI came out smokin with Patrick Karnwie hustling the ball past the keeper right off the bat for his first collegiate goal. The Keydets continued to maintain great control of the game for the first fifteen minutes. The second fifteen minutes saw even action at both ends of the field. East Tennesee State took the upper hand as the half wound down and managed to even up the score right before halftime. East Tennesee State maintained their momentum at the start of the second half and took the lead shortly after the break. The Bucs potent offense continued to pressure the Keydets for a while after that, but as the half wore on the Keydets slowly managed to regain control of the game. The final ten to fifteen minutes pretty much belonged to VMI as the offense pressured ETSU time after time. Unfortunastely, they couldn't get the ball in the net.
Men vs East Tennesee State Photo Page
September 2: A Great Game, Same Bum "OT" Luck
Longwood Hands Women Their Second Straight 1-0 Overtime Setback
"A Great Game" hardly describes how well VMI played Tuesday night at Longwood. Facing a much more formidable foe than in the season opener, VMI took control at the beginning, moving the ball well all over the field and presenting themselves with plenty of opportunities to score. Longwood didn't roll over and play dead, quite the contrary. The Lancers played very well also and the result was an excellent, hard fought match between two good teams.
VMI held the edge in the first half as stingy defense from Celine Ziobro, Audry Falcony, Jen Ball, and Kelly Morisson thwarted the Lancers and also provided great feeds upfield. Offensively, the Keydets showed signs that this new group is beginning to gel. There may have been a few mis-timed passes or missed runs, but not many. The number of perfectly timed passes and great runs drastically outweighed any miscues.
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Rat Christina Gontarski(14) made her debut as a Keydet, starting off at left midfield. Her play certainly helped to charge the Keydets forward. Keeper Kat Underwood also made her debut as a Keydet field player, subbing in the first half at forward. This header by Kat brought the Keydet fans to their feet.
VMI took a more defensive posture in the second half as the Longwood offense came to life, but continued stingy play from the defense, coupled with great, heads up play from Heidi Beamer in goal kept the Lancers off the board.
The Keydet offense also mounted some good threats in the second half, including this shot by Olivia Moore with one minute left to go in regulation.
Overtime saw good action at both ends of the field before the Lancers managed to shoot one in.
Note: Longwood opened their season with a 2-0 win over Liberty (picked 3rd in the Big South preseason poll).
August 29: Slow First Half Dooms Keydets in Season Opener
Mount Saint Mary's Tops VMI 3-0 on Three First Half Goals
Slow, a four letter word beginning with S, is a fitting description of what the men's team looked like for the first 45 minutes. The Keydets could not find their groove in the first half and Mt. St. Mary's took control, capitalzing with three goals.
Fortunately, the Keydets, with some new faces on the field, picked up the tempo in the second half. The result was a much better, evenly matched half of soccer. Play went back and forth and both teams had their chances to score.
The bottom line: One bad half, one good half, one bad loss.
Eight Rats made their debut: Brandon Gary(5), Dallas Disbro(6), Jacob MacIntyre(8), Patrick Karnwie(17), Andrew Self(22), Zaher Shihata(23), Ayao Sossou(25), and keeper Adrian Dominguez(28).
Men vs Mt. St. Mary's Photo Page
August 24: Men Tie Richmond in Scrimmage
The team
tied
August 22nd: OUCH! Keydets Get Stung in Season Opener
Howard Tops VMI 1-0 in Sudden Death
This is supposed to be the "Exciting Season" and it sure started off that way Friday night at Howard. After ninety minutes of nearly flawless defense and continuous second half offensive threats, the Keydets got caught upfield early in overtime allowing a really quick Bison to collect the ball near midfield and rush it downfield where she beat Hiedi Beamer one on one with a hard shot from about the eighteen. Though a little stunned, the Keydets walked off the field with their heads heads high, knowing they had played a very good game.
The first half was a fairly even matched contest with both squads showing some pizzazz while also showing a few signs of early season rust. The Keydets took the upper hand in the second half, threatening the goal on quite a few occasions (see video). To say VMI dominated play would be an overstatement, but they definitely controlled the tempo. Howard did get the ball in the net about midway through the half, but the goal was negated by an offsides call.
Five Rats started the game and all made some major contributions. Kelly Morrison(11) at right back played with a level of "opening day" confidence that rivals Celine Ziobro's debut three years ago. Gabrielle McCarron(3), filling in for injured Celine at center back, showed a huge, dominant presence. At midfield, Amanda Berrios(16) and Sarah Strand(10) did great. And up front, Olivia Moore(18) showed that she is going to be a big threat this year.
Women vs Howard Video (32 Mb .wmv file) May take a while to load. Go get a cup of coffee while you wait.
August 16th: Women's Scrimmage at JMU
It was a gorgeous evening for soccer last Saturday at JMU. They really have a nice field and .... a Huge talented squad. It was apparent that they are potentially a national Top 25 team and we still have room to improve. That being said, we kept the score down despite the relative absence of sustitutes and several of the incoming rats showed some impressive ball skills and will no doubt contribute this fall.
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