Junior Keith Long had three goals and four assists while freshman Mickey Hofmeister added a pair of goals and five assists as the VMI Keydets defeated the Presbyterian College Blue Hose 15-9 Sat., March 12 at VMI’s Foster Stadium. Hofmeister’s five assists mark the third-highest total in program history, while eight other Keydets scored on the contest in the teams second victory of the season.
The Keydets (2-3) never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 4-0 lead less than five minutes into the matchup on goals by Long, and a trio of juniors, Andrew Nieminski, Tyler Griffith, and Drew Leonard. A Tyler Melnyk goal with 3:39 left in the first put the Blue Hose (1-4) on the board at 4-1, but junior Colin Bosse answered right back for the Keydets on a man-down opportunity, the teams first man-down score since the 2006 campaign, to retake a four-goal advantage at 5-1. Melnyk, who had five scores on the day, added his second with 2:15 left in the first to bring the tally to 5-2 heading into quarter number two.
In the second frame, the Keydets busted the contest open, outscoring PC 6-1. Hofmeister had a hand in the first two goals on the quarter by junior Dallas Wiggins at the 13:05 mark and Long’s second tally of the contest at the 12:45 mark. After another Melnyk goal of the unassisted variety with 10:20 left in the second, the Keydets closed out the half on a 4-0 run. The run was keyed by scores by Leonard, Hofmeister, senior Lowell Patterson and junior Chris Rossie with one second left on the clock to carry an 11-3 lead into the half.
At the halftime intermission, VMI held a substantial advantage in shots (27-8), along with a 26-17 groundball differential. The Keydets also converted 11-of-14 faceoff opportunities. PC did capitalize on man-up sets, as the Blue Hose converted 3-of-4 in the first half.
PC showed glimpses on offense in the early portion of the third quarter, as a pair of Andrew Athens goals in the opening six minutes of the third to bring the score to 11-5. Long and Hofmeister hooked up for goals at the 6:06 mark with Hofmeister finding Long, and Long returned the favor with 3:02 left in the third for Hofmeister’s second of the day to stretch the Keydet advantage to 13-5 heading into the fourth quarter of action.
The Blue Hose outscored the Keydets 4-2 in the final stanza, as Melnyk added his fourth and fifth goals of the contest, coupled with Athens’ third score of the day and a goal by Kel Harrison. VMI’s Eric Alter scored his first-career goal on a dish from Hofmeister with 13:07 left in the contest, while Patterson added his second of the contest on a man-up opportunity with 1:27 left on an assist from Bosse, securing the Keydets the 15-9 victory.
Junior Kelly McMinn started in goal for VMI, and made one save, improving to 2-3 on the season. He was relieved at halftime by freshman Pat Johnston, who had a stop as well as a pair of groundballs. PC keep Jon Athens went the distance in the cage for PC, making 11 saves and had nine ground balls.
The Keydets outshot the Blue Hose 45-22 on the afternoon, and held a 55-39 ground ball advantage. Junior Stephen Robarge led the way in the faceoff X, converting 12-of-15 of his opportunities and had a team-high nine groundballs, while freshman Christian Addison was 4-of-6 in the faceoff X. The Keydets were also a pristine 22-of-26 on clears on the afternoon to PC’s 22-of-29.
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