Johnson City, Tenn.- The No.3 Wofford Men's soccer team won its Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinal match Friday afternoon against No.6 VMI in Johnson City, Tennessee. The 3-0 victory was fueled by goals from Stewart Patnaud and Nathan Simes in the second half. Wofford advances to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament to face ETSU.
The first half was deadlocked at zero for the majority of the frame. Both teams would take five shots each in the half, with all-freshman goalkeeper Leo Ledin saving three out of five shots taken by the Keydets. The Terriers would threaten late in the half with Thaddeus Dennis and Stewart Patnaud both taking shots within the final minute before halftime, but the VMI keeper would be up to task, saving both shots.
The second half was dominated by the Terrier attack as Wofford would take 13 shots compared to VMI's seven. In the 57th minute, Stewart Patnaud found a pass from captain Kameron Gorst and buried a goal past the keeper to give Wofford the lead. The Terrier attack would continue as Wofford took the next four shots in a 15-minute span. In the 70th minute, a pass from Villads Landsperg found Stewart Patnaud in front of the goal, who again put a shot in the back of the net to extend Wofford's lead to 2-0. The native of Asheville, North Carolina has scored four goals this season, leading the team.
In the 75th minute, a Wofford counterattack after a VMI blocked shot would find a driving Nic Parker, who found Magnus Kjoller with a beautful pass, who then one-timed a pass to a free Nathan Simes on the back post for the goal. After the third and final goal, Wofford would run out the rest of the clock to advance to the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament.
Nathan Simes and Stewart Patnaud have both scored on the last five Wofford goals these past three games. Wofford out shot VMI 18 to 12 with both teams having five saves each. There were 19 fouls total in this match with 14 on VMI and five on Wofford. VMI would also accumulate three yellow cards in the match. Wofford will play again Sunday, November 10, in the semifinals against No.2 seed ETSU at 6pm.
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