SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's soccer team opened the 2021 Southern Conference slate with a dominant confidence-boosting win over the VMI Keydets, 8-1, as seven different Terriers scored in the match for the first time since joining the Division I era and Southern Conference in 1997. The Terriers move to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Southern Conference, while VMI slips to 0-7 and 0-1 in league play.
 
"We had a disappointing result earlier in the week and we just talked about how important it is to start the conference schedule with three points," said head coach Joel Tyson. "Getting that three points today is a good start to league play. We haven't been great with our set-piece goals, but the first three goals today came off of set pieces. I am happy to see a comprehensive approach to attacking the match today."
 
The eight goals mark the most since a 6-0 victory over the Keydets on Oct. 7, 2017, as the last time Wofford recorded eight goals in a match was in an 8-1 victory at Limestone on Oct. 26, 1994.
 
Junior Brandon Oddy led the Terriers with a career-best two-goal performance, as freshman Christoffer Saietz added his second career goal. Daan Snellink, Magnus Kjoller, Oliver Sheikhli, Amin Mohammedi and Diego Reyes all tallied first career goals to round out Wofford's scorers on the day.
 
Junior Charlie Harris dished a career-high two assists, as Mitchell Myers, Thaddeus Dennis, Alex Dennis, Kameron Gorst and Ben Goudy all contributed assists in the match.
 
SoCon Defensive Player of the Week and goalkeeper Joshua Old adds his third win of the season, allowing zero shots on goal in his 68 minutes of action.
 
The Terriers dominated from start to finish, holding possession for over half the match while overpowering the Keydets with a 19-4 shot differential for the match. Wofford's defensive line was superb throughout the duration of the match, allowing zero shots on goal prior to a late VMI score in the 79^th minute.
 
Wofford would get on the board first in the 13^th minute, as Mitchell Myers would launch a throw-in near the left corner into the box, finding Magnus Kjoller for a header that snuck past VMI's Broden Schull for the 1-0 advantage. Just under two minutes later (14'), Charlie Harris would place a free kick into the box, as Amin Mohammedi doubled the margin with a follow-up header of his own to push the 2-0 spread.
 
Harris would dish a consecutive helper off a corner kick from the right side in the 23^rd to find Christoffer Saietz rush into the box for a line-drive header that beat the left side of the keeper to push the 3-0 advantage. A brief scoring hiatus would ensue before Brandon Oddy joined the action in the 33^rd minute, burying a beautiful cross inside the box from Thaddeus Dennis to add Wofford's fourth score of the half.
 
Oddy then tallied his second goal of the match shortly after in the 35^th minute, finishing a cross from freshman Diego Reyes to meet the back of the net and ultimately head into the intermission with a 5-0 halftime lead.
 
The Keydets played with more chemistry in the second half, though, the Terriers added to its scoring frenzy with its sixth goal in the 68^th minute after Daan Snellink drilled a shot bottom-left from just outside the 18, off the helper from Kameron Gorst, to push the 6-0 edge. Classmate Oliver Sheikhli added Wofford's seventh goal after the Keydets would save the initial strike from Alex Dennis, as Sheikhli was in position to boot the rebound in goal for his first career score (77') from 12-yards out.
 
The Keydets finally broke the silence in the 79^th minute, as VMI's leading goal scorer Nathan Lam snuck one past Josh Burgess, though, Ben Goudy would conclude the scoring output on the day a minute later in the 80^th, ripping a shot bar-down from the left side of the 18 to ultimately allow Wofford to come away with the 8-1 victory at the end of regulation and push its win streak over the Keydets to 15 in a row.
 
Wofford (3-3) competes next on Tuesday, Sept. 21, with a crosstown matchup at USC Upstate, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.