Lexington, VA – Sophomore forward Brandon Joseph-Buadi (Brighton, England / Woodard) netted his first career hat trick as Manhattan topped VMI 5-1 on Friday evening in the first half of the Jaspers' Virginia road trip.
Manhattan rebounds to move to 4-1 on the season, while VMI drops to 0-4.
Joseph-Buadi struck first in the 14th minute, heading in a long pass from Thomas Hitchins (Raleigh, NC / Wakefield). He converted the final two goals of the evening in the 82nd and the 86th minute for the first Jasper hat trick in 10 years.
Junior defender Adrien Awana (Bordeaux, France / University of Bordeaux) and sophomore forward Oswald Annang (Accra Kokomle, Ghana / Peekskill (NY)) each found the back of the net to account for the rest of Manhattan's offense.
The Jaspers next travel southeast to Lynchburg, VA as they visit Liberty in the team's final non-conference road match. Kickoff is slated for Sunday, September 9 at 1:00 pm.
FIRST HALF
- Hitchins drove a long pass from midfield all the way into the box, where Joseph-Buadi headed it into the lower right corner past VMI netminder Broden Schull.
- Five minutes later, Manhattan received a corner kick that sophomore forward Berti Fourrier (Marseille, France / IFC Marseille) shot wide left.
- In the 23rd minute, senior forward Lucas Da Silva (West Palm Beach, FL / Palm Beach Atlantic) sent a corner in that freshman defender Simon Busch (Duisburg, Germany / Theodor-Fliedner Gymnasium) headed high and to the left side.
- Manhattan finally converted on a set piece two minutes afterwards, as the Keydets mishandled a Fourrier corner that Awana cleaned up with a one-timer.
- Junior goalkeeper Marcellin Gohier (Nantes, France / CENS) registered his first save of the game in the 32nd minute, corralling a shot from over 20 yards out on the right side.
- Junior defender Tristan Doran's (Jupiter, FL / Benjamin) through pass skated by a few VMI defenders to junior forward Noah Amissah (London, England / Orleans Park), but his one-timer was lifted too high.
SECOND HALF
- Manhattan capitalized off a corner kick again when senior midfielder Ryan Shields (Wigan, England / Standish Community) sent it to Annang's noggin to stretch the Jasper lead to 3-0 three minutes out of halftime.
- The Jaspers rattled off four straight shots in response to the goal.
- VMI broke through with a Marco Reyes header off a free kick in the 56th minute.
- Joseph-Buadi fed Da Silva in the 66th minute, but the latter's shot was denied thanks to a diving save from Schull.
- The sophomore recorded his second goal of the contest when he received a pass from Fourrier and split two defenders to fire a shot into the net in the 82nd minute.
- The Keydets earned a direct free kick in the 83rd minute. A header floated to the right post, but Gohier navigated to his left to cut off the shot.
- In the 86th minute, Joseph-Buadi sealed the hat trick when he utilized a couple crossovers to dribble to open space, firing a laser from the left corner of the box 18 yards away.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Joseph-Buadi scored Manhattan's first hat trick since Fernando Londono netted three goals in a 5-4 loss to FDU on September 9, 2008.
- Manhattan is the first team in the MAAC to reach four wins this year.
- The five goals are the most by the Jaspers this season.
- Manhattan has scored 12 goals in its last two games against VMI.
- The Jaspers decimated the Keydets in shots 32-6. The 32 shots are the second-highest in a NCAA Division I game this season.
- Annang notched his first career goal, while Hitchins added his first collegiate assist.
- Shields added his first assist of the season.
- Manhattan kicked a season-high seven corners.
- Gohier compiled three saves in net.
- Freshman forward Rome Young (Marlton, NJ / Cherokee) got in to his first collegiate match in the final moments of the game.