RICHMOND, Va. -- VCU scored two insurance goals late in the game to pull away from the Navy men's soccer team and hand the Mids a 4-1 setback in the season opener on a warm, muggy night in Richmond. The loss drops Navy to 0-1-0, while VCU opens the season 1-0-0.

Navy trailed 1-0, then tied the game at one on a Guy Skord goal midway through the first half, but VCU, who was picked second behind 25th-ranked Old Dominion in the competitive CAA, scored the last three goals of the contest for the 4-1 victory.

"They are a very good team, but I felt we played very well. It was 2-1 for a long time in the second half and we had a number of close calls to tie the score," said Navy head coach Dave Brandt. "We just unraveled in last 10 minutes. We were really in it and played very well for 80 minutes. We just can't let the last 10 minutes happen. We are a young team and will learn from it."

The Rams took a 1-0 lead just eight minutes into the game on a 35-yard free kick by Juan Monge Solano.

However, just 14 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Guy Skord (Annapolis, Md.) tallied his first goal of the season to tie the score at one. Skord corralled a loose ball on the right side of the box, and fired a shot across the goal into the left corner for his second career goal.

VCU regained the lead with 11 minutes left in the first half when Jason Johnson sent home a rebound into the back of the net to push the Rams' lead to 2-1.

The score remained the same until the 81st minute when Yoram Mwila scored the first of his two goals in a three-minute, 29-second span, which gave VCU a 3-1 lead. With Navy pressing to get back into the game, Mwila put the game out of reach in the 84th minute with his second tally of the game and a 4-1 lead, which would remain the final score.

VCU outshot the Mids, 17-10, including 11-6 in the first half and 6-4 in the second half. The Rams had four corner kicks to Navy's two and the Mids were plagued by 14 fouls to VCU's seven.

Gavin Snyder(So. / Severna Park, Md.) saw his first career action in goal, stopping four shots while allowing four goals.

The Midshipmen will take on Fairleigh Dickinson next Thursday at 7:00 pm at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility in Annapolis. It will be the home opener for the Mids.

# GO NAVY #