Athletics
Women’s Soccer Enjoys Best Season in 6 Years
VMI women’s soccer enjoyed a strong season of improvement, earning their most wins since 2018.—Photo courtesy VMI Athletics.
The VMI women’s soccer team improved leaps and bounds in 2024 due to strong coaching and excellent leadership from battle-tested upperclassmen.
The Keydets went 6-11-2 in 2024—their most wins since earning seven in 2018. VMI started the season 3-0, also its best start since opening the 2018 campaign with six straight wins. The Keydets’ hot start included wins over D-1 opponents, Davidson College Aug. 15 and American University a few days later Aug. 18. VMI would go on to defeat D-II school, Emory & Henry, for its third straight win Aug. 24.
Whitney Tracy ’25, 1st Class starting goalie, did not allow a single goal in the first three games, which resulted in her earning Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week following VMI’s wins over Davidson and American.
At the midpoint of the season Sept. 26, the Keydets earned a 2-1 victory over rival The Citadel for VMI’s second consecutive year defeating the Bulldogs, which had not happened since back-to-back wins in 2016 and 2017. Down 1-0 at halftime, the Keydets battled back with two second-half goals to earn the big win.
After tying Wofford College by a 1-1 score Oct. 17 in Spartanburg, the Keydets and Terriers battled again 2 weeks later in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament. Down 2-0 late in the match, Isabella Bruzonic ’25 scored a goal to keep the game close. Despite conceding another Terrier goal, VMI kept fighting until the end as Riley Boucher ’26 scored a goal in the final minute of the match in a close 3-2 loss to finish the season. Boucher was named to the SoCon All-Tournament team for her goal, in addition to leading the Keydets with nine goals on the season.
Tracy, Sedona Dancu ’25, Delilah Martindale ’25, Bruzonic, Lauren Fyfe ’25, Audrey Davis ’25, Alexa Avery ’25, and Courtney Smith ’25 leave a legacy of fighting through adversity and defeat and battling until the end.
Shortly after the conclusion of the season, Chris Haught-Thompson, head coach, announced he would be exiting the program in pursuit of other personal and professional goals, but he leaves the program in good hands with a strong returning corps of both goal scorers and defensive specialists.
