JMU Men's Soccer Beats #25 West Virginia 2-0

Wednesday, September 28

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James Madison University

5-1-1

West Virginia

4-4-1

West Virginia

James Madison

9/29/2011 1:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 28, 2011 - The James Madison men's soccer team remained undefeated at home as the Dukes beat 25th-ranked (Soccer America) West Virginia 2-0 Wednesday evening at the JMU Soccer Complex.

The Dukes improved to 5-1-1 overall, including a 5-0-0 home record. The Mountaineers dropped to 4-4-1 with their second straight loss.

JMU scored on its only two shots of the match and netted a goal in each half.

In the 24th minute senior Patrick Innes (Chester, Va./Thomas Dale) blasted a free kick from 30 yards out just under the crossbar.

With just under 15 minutes left in the game, redshirt junior Christian McLaughlin (Herndon, Va./Herndon) sent a ball from the left side of the field into the box to junior Paul Wyatt (Modbury, England/Ivybridge). Wyatt scored on a left-footed shot from 16 yards from the center of the box that he directed just inside the left corner of the goal.

Dukes' redshirt senior goalkeeper Justin Epperson (Herndon, Va./Oakton) finished with two saves to get his fourth shutout of the year. Both stops came on long-range attempts, the first in the 38th minute on a hard shot from well outside the box by junior Peabo Doue (Germantown, Md./Clarksburg) and the second in the 51st minute on a shot from more than 40 yards out by junior Travis Pittman (Manassas, Va./Osbourn). WVU's best other scoring opportunity came on a Doue shot from 30 yards that sailed just over the crossbar in the final minute of the first half.

WVU took eight shots, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Justin Holmes (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) did not have a save for the Mountaineers.

Post-Game Comments by JMU Head Coach Tom Martin
"It's a great win for us, all credit to the kids. They battled, they fought, they were very positive and they were working hard for each other. We knew it would be a track meet the way West Virginia plays; they are very direct, they don't build it up, the ball comes forward in a hurry and they are very skillful, very technical and also very athletic."

On the first-half goal:
"We were fortunate to score first, and in a game like that, it is so important. Christian (McLaughlin) was penetrating and he got whacked, and Pittsy (Patrick Innes) is one of our free-kick guys, took it well and we're ahead. I thought West Virginia was going to shift gears at that point, but they didn't; they didn't shift gears until the second half."

"We had two clear shots which ended up being goals. In the first half we had five or six goals we didn't take. We didn't have that many opportunities in the second half but the one we did have was pretty much according to game plan. We knew we could get them in transition because they commit so many people forward, especially at that point in the game when they are only playing with three in the back and trying to get forward for the equalizer. And all credit to the guys, we got the right numbers forward, the right people and we did what we didn't do in the first half giving us an opportunity for the shot."