Visiting Belmont opened a 2-0 lead and defeated the VMI men’s soccer team 3-1 Saturday in a Southern Conference game from Patchin Field.
Keydet Cooper Duplantis was honored in a pre-game ceremony on Senior Day.
Trailing 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left in the contest, VMI freshman Anderson Velazquez drilled home a shot from 30 yards out on a feed from fellow freshman Nadim Lissa to cut the lead to one. The Keydets kept the pressure on, but Belmont countered with a late insurance goal.
VMI sophomore goalie Broden Schull made seven saves on the day.
Jack Shaw scored at the 7:59 mark of the first half for the Bruins and the visitors held a 1-0 lead at intermission. Ares Marlonsson increased the lead to two with a goal at 66:45 from Brett Royster and Niccolo Dagnoni put in the late tally for Belmont.
Belmont (3-8-2/1-1-1 SoCon) had a 19-7 advantage in shots and a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
VMI (1-14/0-5) is back in action Saturday, traveling to Mercer University (Ga.) for the final regular-season game of the year at 5 p.m.