Dukes Fall to #2 Kentucky in Sun Belt Championship

Sunday, November 13

Lexington, Ky.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

8-8-4, 2-3-3

Kentucky

14-0-5, 5-0-3

James Madison

Kentucky

11/13/2022 5:06:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Playing for a men's soccer conference championship for the fourth straight season it was eligible to do so, James Madison fell, 2-0, to the number one seed and second-ranked team in the country, Kentucky, for the Sun Belt Conference title on Sunday afternoon at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.

The Dukes fall to 8-8-4, their sixth consecutive season of a .500 or better season, while the Wildcats improve to 14-0-5 and remain the only undefeated team in the country.

Freshman Kevin Larsson tied a career-high as he paced the JMU offense with four shots. Classmate Sebastian Conlon made seven saves in goal, one shy of his season high.

How It Happened

Luis Grassow put Kentucky up early, scoring in the fifth minute. Enzo Mauriz's shot was blocked by redshirt sophomore Chay Strine, but the rebound fell right to Grassow who fired in a rope to the top left corner of the goal.
In the 24^th minute, the Dukes had a chance of equalizing when Larsson took a shot in the box that was blocked. Redshirt junior Rodrigo Robles then attempted to put in the deflection, but a Wildcat stepped in front to save the shot heading for an open net.
Conlon kept UK off the board in the span of under 25 seconds, saving both of Ben Damge's shots that were right in front of the net.
The Dukes applied pressure during the earlier part of the second half, getting a pair of corners going in the 58^th minute. JMU finished with 10 corner kicks, the first time they've hit double-digits for corners since 13 against Hofstra in the CAA title match in the spring 2021 season.
In the 72^nd minute, UK's Eythor Bjorgolfsson was issued a red card for violent conduct to give the Dukes a man up advantage.
Conlon made two great saves following the booking, first deflecting Casper Grening's shot with a great kick save before saving a shot from Damge inside the six-foot box.
Kentucky added an insurance goal in the 84^th minute, as Danny Evans crossed the ball right to Mauriz standing in front of the goal for a 2-0 lead.
Redshirt junior Evan Southern gave the Dukes a chance to get on the board with 12 seconds remaining, but once again a Kentucky defender stepped in front of an open net to save the shot.

Game Notes

The Dukes outshot the Wildcats 14-13, with the 14 shots the most the Kentucky defense has allowed all season.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
"Very proud of the guys' effort today, Kentucky is ranked number two in the country and undefeated for a reason. To go down 1-0 early was very difficult for our group, but they battled and made it a very tight contest all the way until they scored the second goal on a counter. Our guys had chances, we just didn't bury them and that's a good team and they deserve a championship. Credit to our guys though for staying with it and creating and defending together, super proud of their efforts and their ability to just get to this point. We are hopeful for a bit to the NCAA Tournament, but we will see what comes tomorrow."