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Spring 2007 Game Summarries
Alumni Game 2007 Sees Good Turnout, Good Soccer, Good Food and Good Fun
It was your typical Alumni Game, for the first 20 minutes, no one (alumni) wanted to come off of the field, despite plenty of subs. For the final 20 minutes, no one wanted to leave the serenity of the bench. In other words, everyone got to play more than they had hoped for.
In the first half, the Alumni squared off against the Varsity and the Alumni managed to hold their own quite well. Youth paid off for the varsity as they managed to score a few more goals than the Alumni, but the Alumni did manage to keep fairly even control of the game and did pop in a few goals.
The second half saw the two teams splitting up and going against each other mixed. This was Coach Freakley's greatest idea ever as the conditioned Varsity could obviously last much longer. The result: a great afternoon of soccer for everyone in attendence. Thankfully, there were no real injuries, but you can bet many alumni were "feeling the joy of playing" for a few days.
After the game, a great cookout gave everyone the chance to meet Coach Freakley and the team and learn about the exciting progress of VMI Soccer. BIG THANKS to Coach Freakley for a very well planned and well executed day. Coach Freakley announced that he is planning to do this again next year, sometime in late March or early April. Keep an eye open for it, you don't want to miss it.
VMI Finishes the Day 2-2-1 in Bridgewater 7 vs. 7 Tourney
The weather may not have been the greatest, but the Keydets certainly put on a good show in the Bridgewater Tourney on Saturday April 14th. With a light to moderate rain falling all day, the VMI defeated Emory & Henry and Buffalo State while dropping a pair to James Madison (JMU fielded two teams in the tourney). The Keydets closed out the day with a tie against Eastern Mennonite. With Jessica's Rheinlander's bad hip and Kat Underwood's bad knee, goalkeeping responsibilties were shared between Anya Kovarik, Karen Bill, and Celine Ziobro.
The rain was fairly light as the Keydets kicked it off first against JMU but the Dukes poured it on with a 4-1 win. Alexa Bernas netted VMI's lone goal, knocking in this deflected save:
The rain really started to come down in the second game but it didn't seem to bother the Keydets as they defeated Emory and Henry 6-1. Celine Ziobro opened things up early striking this shot over the E&H keeper:
Alexi Staton also came to life in this game putting in a pair of Goals.
We're not real sure who scored this one but it looks like Celine:
We don't usually show pictures of the other team scoring, but this is the only photo we have of Karen Bill in goal, and its also a pretty nice play for E&H:
The rain let up a bit as VMI squared off against the second JMU team in game 3. Erin Squires and Alexa Bernas scored for the Keydets:
The action against JMU was much closer this game as is evidenced by these numerous close calls:
Close Call 1 Close Call 2 Close Call 3
Close Call 4 Close Call 5 Close Call 6
Game 4 saw the Keydets gaining a 4-2 win over Buffalo State.
Buffalo State's keeper made several great saves to keep the score down.
The Keydets closed out the day in a very evenly fought 0-0 tie with Eastern Mennonite. Both teams may have been a bit tired and the cold rain was getting old.
All told, the Keydets looked impressive and showed signs of some explosive firepower on offense. Surely Coach Williams found some things to critique but the overall play was quite impressive.
First Half Goal Sends UR Past VMI Under the Lights at Richmond's “City Stadium”
We missed the first half, but enjoyed some very good soccer at both ends of the field in the second half. Goalkeeper Steve Phillips, filling in for injured John Sollock, played one heck of a game. Coach Freakley's game comments under “Coaches Corner” tell the story.
Game Videos:
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