SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Terriers scored six goals in the second half to coast to a 7-1 victory over VMI Saturday night at Snyder Field for head coach Ralph Polson's 250th career win.
Junior forward Nestor Jaramillo scored the game-winner for the Terriers to begin the second half scoring barrage. Two quick passes from Pierce Verchick and Connor Davis placed the ball at Jaramillo's feet, where he shot the ball into the right side of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Terriers' seven goal offensive output was the most scored in a Wofford win since September 3, 1997, in a 9-0 defeat of Limestone College.
The win over VMI marked Polson's 54th at Wofford College. Polson also served as the head coach of Presbyterian College for 17 years where he earned a record of 196-104-26.
"It's tough to make a comeback after such an emotional game against Furman last time out, but we came into the second half with the goal of increasing our intensity," said Polson. "Of course 250 wins is special. It took 23 and a half years to get to this point. I've been fortunate enough to have good kids on the field, and I couldn't think of a better group of guys to have out there to win 250 with today."
The Terriers were dominant on offense, claiming the shot margin 29-5, 19-2 on goal. Wofford earned 11 corner opportunities during the match, while VMI had three. The Wofford bench was heavily utilized, with 27 players total seeing action for Wofford in the match.
Wofford scored first, striking at the 35:00 mark. Six minutes after being substituted into the match, senior Matt Frongello scored his first goal of the season to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. Jaramillo passed the ball in from the left side, finding Frongello in the center of the box for the score.
VMI retaliated six minutes later, as Blake McCauley took a shot for the Keydets. The shot was deflected, when Hunter Morgan shot the rebounded ball into the left side of the goal to tie up the game. Despite a 12-2 edge in shots by the Terriers, the two sides entered halftime level.
Jaramillo scored the game-winner 10 minutes into the second half, opening the flood gates for the Terriers.
Senior captain Carlos Dominguez-Gonzalez found the back of the net twice in three minutes for the next two Wofford goals. The midfielder found his first goal of the match at the 58:56 mark, curving a ball over Keydet's keeper Alex Guerra's head to put the Terriers up 3-1. Two minutes later, Jaramillo sent a corner kick into Dominguez-Gonzalez in the middle of the box, who tucked a headed ball home for his third goal of the season.
Jaramillo helped his teammates again in the 68th minute, passing a low ball to outside back Ryan Hurst. The senior defender sprinted into the box, beating the keeper on the right side of the goal for his first goal of the season, bringing the score to 5-1.
There was a break in scoring until the last ten minutes when Wofford tacked on their last two goals. In the 83rd minute, junior forward Connor Copeland broke free and passed the ball to the top of the box where junior midfielder Will Puckett was waiting. Puckett blasted the ball into the back of the net from the top of the 18-yard box for his second score of the season. Three minutes later, freshman Robin Hupin scored his first career goal, sending the ball in from the top of the 18-yard box on a back-heel pass from redshirt freshman Ralph Polson III.
The Terriers have a quick turnaround, playing next on Tuesday night against the conference-leading Mercer Bears. The match begins at 7 p.m. on Snyder Field.
