LEXINGTON, Va. – The Wofford College men's soccer team seized a 3-0 victory against the Keydets of VMI, Tuesday afternoon at Patchin Field.
The win over VMI marks Wofford's tenth win of the season. The win also makes the 2014 campaign the tenth time that Wofford College men's soccer has won 10 or more games in a single season. The school record for most victories is held by the 1994 Terriers team, who earned 14 wins. Coach Polson's record for wins in a season stands at 12, in which the 2009 team earned a bid to the NCAA tournament with a Southern Conference championship.
With the win this afternoon, the Terriers sit at 6-2-1 in SoCon action. The 18 league points place Wofford in position for a second place finish at a minimum, with the possibility of a first place regular season finish dependent upon the result of Tuesday's Mercer-Furman match and Saturday's matches.
Wofford was dominant on offense, with 22 shots, half on frame. The Terriers had some trouble timing runs and were called offside on 10 separate occasions.
"We're extremely happy to earn our tenth win of the season," seventh-season head coach Ralph Polson said. "Lexington is usually a tough place to play, and today was no exception. Our guys showed tremendous effort, and I'm proud of how they executed. It was nice to reward some of our guys who have been working hard with some serious minutes today. It was a great effort all around."
The Terriers struck twice in the opening half, with the two scores coming 10 minutes apart.
The first goal came 19 minutes in off a free kick. The Terriers began with a quick start, as senior midfielder Pierce Verchick put a long through ball up the left side to junior midfielder Will Puckett. As the Keydet defense tried to recuperate, Puckett dribbled the ball into the right side of the inner box. The junior passed the ball to the left side when he came within feet of VMI's Zach Kaplan. Puckett found the feet of classmate Nestor Jaramillo, who tapped the ball into the vacant left side of the net for his eighth score of the season.
The Terriers struck again at the 28:18 mark. Jaramillo started the play from the left side of the box, lobbing the ball to the right side. There, Carlos Dominguez-Gonzalez shot the ball from the right post, over Kaplan's right shoulder to net the second goal of the match, his seventh of the season. With the goal, Dominguez-Gonzalez becomes Wofford's career points leader in the Division 1 era, with 49 to date.
The half ended with a rough foul. Terriers' defender Forrest Lasso was boxing out VMI's Alex Hartman on the goal line, allowing the ball to roll out of bounds for a Wofford possession. In the battle for position, Hartman threw Lasso to the ground, earning a yellow card in the affair.
The Keydets were forced to fight an uphill battle early in the second half. In the 56th minute, Hartman came in with another reckless tackle, earning his second yellow card of the match. The Keydets were left to fend with 10 men the rest of the match.
The Terriers took over, with the scoreboard not representative of Wofford's performance. The Terriers took 13 shots in the second half to VMI's four, but were unable to finish on the majority of their tries.
A quick two minute spurt looked as if it would provide more goals for the Wofford squad. At the 68 minute mark, freshman Robin Hupin played a ball into the box, but was snuffed out by Kaplan just as classmate Nash Wagnon sprinted in to tap the ball in. Two minutes later, Hupin played another ball into junior midfielder Connor Bauknight as he streaked past a defender. Bauknight ripped the shot, but was just wide of the goal.
Hupin found his touch in the final minute of the game. The freshman midfielder played the ball in from a corner kick. Simultaneously, sophomore center back Josh Schooler ran from the top to the center of the box, heading Hupin's cross into the back of the net for the late goal.
Joe Wichmann earned his second consecutive start in the match, earning his second shutout for a 3-0-0 record on the season.
Wofford will finish the regular season on Saturday, when the Terriers host the Furman Paladins in a Senior Day matchup. The men's soccer staff will honor 10 seniors in Carlos Dominguez-Gonzalez, Matt Frongello, Charlie Geddes, Ryan Hurst, Charlie Keeley, Forrest Lasso, Nick Orton, Benny Puetter, Pierce Verchick and Ellis Vienne. The game is set for 7 p.m. at Snyder Field.
