Dukes Dominate in Win Over Old Dominion

Wednesday, October 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

5-3-5, 1-2-3

Old Dominion

5-3-5, 2-3-1

Old Dominion

James Madison

10/18/2023 10:58:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Behind three second half goals and a smothering defense that only allowed once shot all match, James Madison men's soccer earned three points in a win over Old Dominion, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Sentara Park in Sun Belt Conference action.

The Dukes snapped a seven-match winless streak and improved to 5-3-5, 1-2-3 SBC, while the Monarchs dropped their third straight and fell to 5-3-5, 2-3-1 SBC. With tonight's win, JMU now leads ODU 3.5-0.5 in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge.

Redshirt senior Rodrigo Robles was connected to all three JMU goals, scoring the one goal and assisting on the other two. Redshirt junior Evan Southern and freshman Luca Nikolai also scored for the Dukes. Sophomore Sebastian Conlon spent the full 90 minutes in goal.

How It Happened

Robles nearly put the Dukes on the board 51 seconds in, as he fired a shot that was blocked off of ODU's Samuel Mar Kristinsson's head that deflected off of the crossbar.
Old Dominion found the back of the net first in the fifth minute, using a shot from Michael Eberle that never left the ground from right outside the top of the 18-yard box.
The JMU defense would take control of the match for the remainder of the 85:33 left, as the Monarchs would not get another shot off.
JMU fired another six shots in the remainder of the first half, with shots from Southern, Nikolai and redshirt junior Yanis Lelin all being saved.
With a minute and 52 seconds gone in the second half, Southern scored his third goal of the season to equalize for the Dukes. Southern quickly passed to Robles just north of the 18-yard box, before making a run towards the goal where Robles found him to net the score.
Robles scored his goal in the 54^th minute after Nikolai sent a cross field pass to him that was intercepted by an ODU defender that Robles quickly created a turnover from. He then dribbled towards the corner of the box before ripping a heater into the top part of the net for a 2-1 JMU lead.
The Monarchs had a chance to equalize in the 36^th minute, as Conlon was knocked down, creating an open goal for Teagan Dunne to score. However, the goal was disavowed as an ODU foul was called on the collision.
Nikolai scored his first career goal in the 63^rd minute to give the Dukes an insurance goal, receiving a through ball from sophomore Kevin Larsson off a pass from Robles. Nikolai then chipped the ball past Michael Statham in goal as he fell down.

Quick Facts

The one shot allowed by JMU was the lowest shots allowed since giving up a lone shot against Penn State on Oct. 20, 2018.
JMU has four players with at least 10 points on the season for the first time since the 2010 season. Rodrigo Robles has 12 points (4g, 4a), followed by Clay Obara's 11 (5g, 1a), Kevin Larsson's 10 (4g, 2a) and Evan Southern's 10 (3g, 4a).
The Dukes outshot the Monarchs 17-1, putting nine of their shots on goal.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
"I think tonight was about belief. I think the coaching staff challenged the guys at halftime because we played well in the first half, we just gave up that early goal and that was their only shot of the match. The guys played well in the second half and believed that we could get the result and I'm just super proud of the effort levels tonight. We were clicking tonight and it feels good to have that feeling back and get three points in the Sun Belt."

Up Next
The Dukes will be back on the pitch on Sunday, Oct. 22 when they travel to Georgia State in a rematch of last season's Sun Belt Quarterfinals match. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Atlanta.