VMI men drop Senior Day game to High Point, 4-0

The VMI Keydets suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the High Point Panthers Friday afternoon, in a Big South men\'s soccer contest played at Patchin Field.

With the game back-and-forth at halftime and High Point nursing a 1-0 lead, the Panthers struck for three second-half goals to pull away and spoil VMI\'s senior day. With the win, High Point moves to 8-5-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the Big South, while the Keydets drop to 2-12-1 and 1-5 in conference action.

HPU got on the board early, taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Ferijo Okiomah drilled a shot that was stopped by VMI keeper Brian Sowell, but the rebound caromed loose and directly to Stephen Clowes, who headed it home for the game\'s first goal.

The Keydets then controlled the majority of the next seven minutes, mustering three shots during that time. Each of the trio of attempts was off the mark, and HPU came back with a header that was saved by Sowell.

Brian Harding took the next three shots attempts of the game, including a spectacular bicycle kick attempt that just went over the goal at 19:37, as the Panthers continued to cling to a 1-0 lead. Harding also had VMI\'s first shot on goal, an attempt at 22:45 that was stopped by HPU keeper Michael Chesler.

From there, the contest was back-and-forth until intermission, with each keeper making three saves to keep the margin 1-0, High Point. The Panthers had outshot the Keydets 11-9 during the opening 45 minutes, while Sowell had stopped five shots to Chesler\'s four.

No shots were recorded during the first 14 minutes of the second half, but HPU ended that streak resoundingly at 59:33. Scott Rojo and Shawn Sloan executed a give-and-go, with Sloan ending the play by beating Sowell from just inside the box to put the Panthers up 2-0.

Just 33 seconds later, Sloan got the ball at midfield and beat a defender. He then shot from roughly the same spot he had previously, and again found the back of the net. High Point took a 3-0 lead, and added a late goal by Shane Malcolm to account for the final margin.

For the game, VMI outshot HPU 17-16, but the visiting Panthers held a 9-4 edge in shots-on-goal. High Point also bested VMI in corner kicks, 6-4.