CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College men's soccer team picked up its first Big South Conference victory of the season on Saturday with a 3-1 home win over the VMI Keydets at Edens Field at Martin Stadium.
PC improves to 3-6-0 and 1-1-0 in the Big South with the result. The Blue Hose will next travel to UNC Asheville for a 4 p.m. matchup on Wednesday. VMI falls to 1-8-1 overall and 1-3-0 in the Big South. The Keydets stay on the road for a Friday afternoon match at Coastal Carolina at 4 p.m.
The two teams scored all four goals in the first half. Ignacio Monchetti (Montevideo, Uruguay) scored two goals for PC to lead the squad.
Nico Fazio (Roswell, Ga.) opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Cade Crow (Liberty, Mo.) fed Fazio a pass through the back line and the forward converted for his first goal of the season to put PC ahead early on.
Monchetti then struck twice in a 7:10 span. To start, the junior forward took a pass from Charles Blankenship (Collierville, Tenn.), deked out a VMI defender and fired one in to extend PC's lead to 2-0 in the 14th minute.
Monchetti added another in the 21st minute by picking up his own rebound and tucking a second shot home to give the Blue Hose a 3-0 advantage. The score marked Monchetti's third goal of the season.
Crow's and Blankenship's assists marked the first collegiate points for each freshman.
VMI found the back of the net shortly after in the 23rd minute. Kyle Forche sent a ball to Aaron White at the top of the box and the Keydet ripped a shot into the right side to cut PC's lead to 3-1.
Neither side would score in the remaining 67 minutes thanks to top-quality defense and goalkeeping on both ends. Tyler Beadle (Douglasville, Ga.) and Daniel Kitchen made eight saves apiece on the day before Alex Guerra entered the game for Kitchen and stopped one shot in the final 10:43.
Monchetti led all players with seven shots—six on frame—and the pair of goals. Josh Carter (Anchorage, Alaska) took four shots for PC as well.
VMI's Aaron White led his squad with three shots on goal while Travis Borkey and Blake McCauley each fired two on frame.
The win marks PC's third straight over VMI.
