By james art COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina scored in each half to hand James Madison men’s soccer its first setback in Sun Belt Conference play as the Dukes fell 3-1 on Wednesday night at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium.
The Dukes fell to 7-2-5 overall and 3-1-2 in league play, while the Gamecocks improved to 8-3-2, 3-3 SBC.
Redshirt senior Evan Southern pace the JMU three-shot offense while the junior Sebastian Conlon made two saves in goal.
I’m quoting the head coach Paul Zazenski
“Tonight was not our night. The boys fought their way back into the game, going down 2-0 and we had a lot of the ball and a lot of chances in the second half. South Carolina played well and finished the game in the last seconds, they have to learn from that game and move on.”
How it happened
- Carolina struck first in the 20th minute on Ethan Ballek’s goal from the top of the box, Conlon getting a hand to the ball but not enough to stop it.
- The Dukes had an opportunity in the 43rdrd minute from a corner kick, with a graduate kick Aidan Melville saved before a shot by Sr Enrique Garcia Bareles was deflected by the upper body of an SC defender.
- SC took a two-goal lead in the 50sth minute from William Nilsson’s goal.
- In the 55sth minute, sophomore Luka Nikolay put the Dukes on the board with a shot that went just over the Carolina goalie into the top corner of the goal.
- The Gamecocks regained the two-goal lead at 89th minute goal for a 3-1 lead.
Fast facts
- The Dukes trailed at halftime for the second time all season.
- JMU was tied with SC in shots with 11 each and led SC in corners 5-2.
Next up
The Dukes host No. 6 West Virginia on Sunday, October 27 at Sentara Park for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. It will be the first top-10 opponent to visit Sentara Park since Marshall finished second last season.