CHARLESTON, S.C. - For the second day in a row, VMI played to a 1-1 draw, but this time the Keydets fell 3-0 in penalty kicks to eighth-seeded Winthrop in the first semifinal of the 2009 Big South Conference Women's Soccer Championship presented by Musco Sports Lighting on Friday evening at Blackbaud Stadium.
The result was the fifth straight upset in the tournament, as the Eagles (5-10-5) now advance to Sunday's Championship Final against the winner of Friday evening's second semifinal pitting #6 Radford against #7 High Point. The Keydets (7-10-3), meanwhile, have their season end in the Big South Semifinals for the second straight season.
"I was incredibly proud of how this group played and performed," said VMI head coach Bryan Williams. "I felt like we put a tremendous amount of pressure on them, and from my perspective, that was a lot of fun to watch. After that first goal was scored, it felt more like we would score on them than they would us, but credit them. They made it difficult for us to get inside, and we just couldn't finish. We were able to get the ball into the right places, and for us, it was really high level soccer that we were playing. But once again, as it has all season, it came down to us just not being able to score when we needed to."
The Eagles struck first in the ninth minute, when junior Kyrie Weant sent a through ball into the center of the field that freshman Allie VandeWater put away from the top of the 18-yard box, sliding a grounder to the far post for her second goal of the season.
"Vandewater is a quick little player, and it was frustrating that we lost her there," said Williams. "We managed them well the rest of the game and forced them to take the outside shot."
The Keydets tied the match in the 34th minute, thanks to one of the team's most impressive goals of the season. Senior defender Alexi Staton sent a pass from 30 yards out to the far post, where senior Chrissy Beach headed the ball across the six-yard box. Freshman Simone Jimenez was there to head home her second marker of the season.
"The goal came on a phenomenally set up cross from Alexi," said Williams. "Then the way Chrissy and Simone were able to finish was just terrific. That was a great goal when we really needed it. We did the same thing several other times, but just didn't get same sort of connection back in with similar players the rest of the night."
VMI held an 8-6 advantage in shots in the game's opening period, with Winthrop keeper Kelsy Weavil credited with three stops compared to two saves for VMI's Angela Redmond.
The Keydets began the second half where they left off the first, notching three shots in the first five minutes and dominating possession. The Eagles answered back in the following 10 minutes, generating a pair of free kicks from near the 18-yard box, but coming up empty on both attempts. Play went back-and-forth throughout most of the next 20 minutes until Winthrop nearly netted the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute. A corner kick by Winthrop's Tiana Tallant drew Redmond off her line, but a shot at the empty net sailed high for Devon Mellichamp.
The Keydets weathered several more chances for the Eagles in the final 10 minutes of regulation, including a dangerous situation on a corner kick with under a minute remaining. But the VMI defense held and sent the match to overtime, despite being out-shot 9-5 in the second half.
VMI began its third consecutive overtime match with possession, but saw the Eagles generate the best opportunity of the first overtime period, when VandeWater's shot from 25 yards out necessitated a diving save from Redmond. Each team had other chances in the stanza, with Redmond coming off her line to grab a dangerous Winthrop cross, while a charge forward by Keydet defender Audrey Falconi led to VMI's lone shot of the period.
Midway through the second overtime, Staton unleashed a shot from 20 yards out, but Weavil was up to the challenge. Just two minutes later, Beach sent a ball into the box that Jimenez nearly connected on, but Weavil came out just in time to thwart the chance. VMI ended up taking all four shots of the second overtime period, though Winthrop ended the match with a 22-18 advantage in the category.
In the penalty kick shootout, each of the first three Eagle shooters found the back of the net. On the flip side, Sarah Schippers, inserted in the Winthrop net for the shootout after Weavil played 110 minutes in goal, did not allow a goal in VMI's three attempts.
"It came down entirely to penalty kicks that decided the outcome of the game," said Williams. "It's a frustrating way to end the season, but I'm incredibly proud of the group, in particular my seniors with the way they played. Everyone put everything they had into the match. I didn't see anybody back down, everybody was into it until the bitter end."
Redmond was credited with nine saves in the match, while each of Weavil's four stops came in regulation. Beach managed a game-high seven shots in the contest, with three of them coming on frame. Rachel Webster led the Eagles with five attempts, with two of them forcing Redmond saves.
The match ended the careers of four Keydet seniors, as Beach, Falconi, Staton and Kat Underwood made their final appearance in a Keydet uniform. Together, the class led the Keydets to 27 victories and back-to-back Big South Semifinal appearances, the first two in program history.
