Mount St. Mary’s University scored on a penalty kick and hung on for a 1-0 victory Saturday evening over the VMI men’s soccer team Saturday night in a non-conference game.
After over 70 minutes of scoreless soccer, VMI was whistled for a handball in the box with 19:23 remaining. Bilal Hassane took the ensuing penalty kick and knocked it in the bottom right hand corner of the goal to break the scoreless tie. The Keydets almost immediately answered back, but a shot from Jonathan Martinez was deflected over the crossbar.
The Keydets had a couple of good chances for the equalizer late. Benjamin Skibicki had his header, seemingly earmarked for the right corner of the net, blocked by a Mountaineer defender with just 1:14 left. VMI had one last chance, but an attempt to force overtime was saved by Mount St. Mary’s goalie Bobby Edwards with just four ticks left on the game clock.
MSMU (1-4-2) had slight edges in shots (17-14) and corner kicks (7-5). VMI netminder Broden Schull made six saves on the evening, while Edwards made four stops.
“The team played really well tonight,” said VMI head coach Michael Bonelli. “We did some good things on both sides of the ball. Overall, I’m very happy with the performance and we will grow from this result. The first win is right around the corner and we are going to build from this performance.”
“It was a great game and effort from both teams and it is unfortunate that the game was decided by a referee’s call. Our players know how to get through adversity and what we learn from tonight will help us gain positive results from down the road.”
VMI (0-8) travels to Howard University (Washington, D.C.) next Saturday at 5 p.m.
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