Men’s Soccer Battles to Conference Tie with VMI

LEXINGTON, Va.--One-hundred and ten minutes was not enough, as the RU men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 tie with VMI in a Big South Conference match Wednesday afternoon at Patchin Field. (Box Score)

Radford (1-1-3, 0-1-1 BSC) jumped on top in the 36th minute, when Romain Maudire found the back of the net from close in on a pass from Patrick Colas.

VMI (3-2-1, 0-0-1 BSC) answered in the 54th minute, when Charles Nweke converted a penalty kick after he was taken down from behind while in the box. Nweke now leads the Keydets with four goals and 12 points.

The Keydets came out firing in the opening minutes, putting the pressure on Radford keeper Omar Zinoveev. Zinoveev finished the game with eight saves, with numerous fine plays on passes in the box.

Zinoveev wasn’t the only keeper to play well, though. VMI’s Thomas Upton also played the entire contest in goal, coming up with two huge saves in the middle of the first half to keep the game scoreless.

Both teams notched 18 shots and five corner kicks in the contest. VMI was called for 22 fouls to Radford’s 16 and were whistled for five offsides calls to Radford’s none. The tie is RU's third this season. The Highlander record is five.

Radford will battle for the New River Rock on Saturday at 7:00 pm when it hosts New River Valley rival Virginia Tech. The Keydets return to action Friday, when they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Howard University at 7:00 pm