Box Score
Tournament Central
Kyle Farmer Interview at Bottom of Page

LEXINGTON, Va. – There is nothing quite like getting that first win of a season, especially on your home field. The Virginia Military Institute men's soccer team got that feeling today after it upended George Washington University 3-1 in a doubleheader at Patchin Field.

The Keydets (1-2-0) and Colonials squared off in the second game of the 2012 Jay Sculley Memorial Tournament, following a 2-0 Marshall University win over Liberty University earlier in the day.

Senior forward Kyle Farmer notched his first tally of the season, which also served as the first Keydet goal of the year. He was joined in the goal column by freshmen Kyle Forché and Andrew Starnes. All three goals came in the first half. Freshman Hunter Morgan chipped in an assist, as did senior captain David Rochow.

“The freshmen have been stepping up all season long,” said Farmer of the incoming class, which had a point on each VMI goal. “That was important, especially that assist from Hunter Morgan that was big, getting the first W at home.”

The three freshmen each enjoyed scoring their first collegiate points in their initial appearance at Patchin Field.

Junior keeper Daniel Kitchen got his second consecutive start of the year, logging three saves on four Colonial shots on goal. Kitchen allowed just one marker in his 90 minutes of play, making several sprawling saves to preserve his first career win.

The Colonials (2-2-0) picked up one tally from Andri Alexandersson in the 10^th minute, closing VMI's gap to 2-1. George Washington keeper Jean-Pierre van der Merwe suffered the loss, but racked up six saves against VMI.

The Keydets put on an offensive onslaught, taking 15 shots while limiting the Colonials to just 9. VMI put up eight shots in the second half while cutting George Washington's first-stanza total in half to three. No cards were given, but VMI was whistled eight times for fouls while the Colonials were called just four times. GW held a slight edge on corner kicks at 9-8.

Both teams came out firing in the first half, with three of the game's four goals getting scored in the first 10 minutes. Just over four minutes in to the home opener, Farmer received a high cross from Morgan, who was across the box. Farmer used his 6-1 frame to get a head on ball and put the Keydets up 1-0.

Just over three minutes later, Forché tallied his first career goal for VMI after being denied twice last week at Mount St. Mary's. Carrying the ball near midfield, Rochow sent in a long ball the Forché tracked through the air and managed to finish to the right post with a header, giving the Keydets a 2-0 advantage.

VMI saw the lead sliced in half just two minutes later as Alexandersson finished a long pass from Joe Holleran on a set piece following a Keydet foul.

In the final third of the opening stanza, Starnes controlled a ball that a Colonial defender attempted to send out of the defensive zone following a VMI corner kick. Starnes collected the ball and snaked a shot through the defense, best van der Merwe and securing VMI's two-goal lead.

Through the second half, neither team managed to find the back of the cage, allowing VMI to not only pick up its first win of 2012, but the most goals in a single game since the 2010 finale against Presbyterian College in a 4-3 victory at Patchin Field.

The win snapped a tough for VMI, which picked up its first win at home since Sept. 25, 2011 in a 2-1 victory over UNC Asheville. The win against George Washington not only snapped a three-game slide versus the Colonials, but halted an 11-game winless streak, which had one tie.

VMI looks to continue its defense of Patchin Field on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. when it takes on Marshall.

In the first game of the afternoon, Marshall punched in two first half goals to win 2-0 over Liberty, which won the Big South Conference Tournament last season. Eddy Prugh pushed what proved to be the game-winning goal across in the fourth minute. Teammate Anthony Virgara, who had the assist on Prugh's goal, scored the insurance marker in the 21^st minute. Liberty goalkeeper Scott Sutarik made four saves in the game while Marshall's Daniel Withrow made a trio of stops.