Hat Trick from Southern Downs Georgia State to Earn Three Points for JMU

Sunday, October 22

Atlanta, Ga.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

6-3-5, 2-2-3

Georgia State

5-5-5, 2-3-2

James Madison

Georgia St.

Hat Trick from Southern Downs Georgia State to Earn Three Points for JMU

10/22/2023 6:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ATLANTA – James Madison redshirt junior Evan Southern scored the first JMU hat trick since 2019 to help the Dukes down Georgia State, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at the GSU Soccer Complex in Sun Belt Conference men's soccer.

The Dukes improved to 6-3-5, 2-2-3 SBC while the Panthers dropped to 5-5-5, 2-3-2 SBC.

Southern is one of two Dukes who took at least three shots, being joined by redshirt senior Rodrigo Robles. Sophomore Sebastian Conlon spent the full 90 minutes in goal, making a save.

How It Happened

Southern found the back of the net for the first time in the early going of the match, netting the goal in the seventh minute. After back-to-back corner kicks for JMU, the ball was batted around after the latter kick before bouncing from junior Enrique Garcia Barelles to Southern who fired from about 15 yards out.
GSU had chances in the 28^th and 32^nd minutes to equalize, but both shots were wide.
Arnold had an opportunity in the 39^th minute to add a goal, but a diving save by Josh Hangi denied the opportunity. The rebound came back to Arnold who tried again to score, but his shot was blocked and a corner kick was rewarded to the Dukes.
It took a minute and 42 seconds into the second half for Southern to net his second goal of the day, as a turnover allowed Robles to find Southern inside the box to double the lead, 2-0.
Georgia State had its first shot on goal in the 61^st minute, a one-hopper shot from outside the box that Conlon was able to corral.
The Panthers began to put pressure on the JMU backline in the later part of the match, firing a shot off the post in the 76^th minute before Matt Taylor would cut the lead in half with a goal in the 79^th minute.
Southern would give JMU a two-goal lead once again in the 84^th minute, securing the first hat trick by a Duke since Manuel Ferriol in 2019.

Quick Facts

The hat trick for Evan Southern is the first of his JMU career. Prior to JMU at Iowa Western CC, he had two hat tricks and a five-goal match.
In the wins against Old Dominion and Georgia State this week, Rodrigo Robles finished with a goal and three assists while Southern netted four goals.
Southern's hat trick is the first road hat trick for the Dukes since Dennis Mensah recorded one at Elon in 2019.
The hat trick is the 27th in program history and the first road hat trick for JMU since Brandon Wright scored a trio of goals in 1999 at Saint Francis.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
"Proud of the way the guys are playing as of late. Back-to-back wins in the Sun Belt is tough, especially away. We had a lot of guys step up lately which you need down the stretch. Next up is a difficult team to beat in Georgia Southern. We are excited for our seniors to play on our home pitch in our final home Sun Belt regular season match."

Up Next
The Dukes will return home for its final home game of the regular season, as they take on Georgia Southern on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at Sentara Park. JMU will be honoring Clay Obara, Evan Paez and Rodrigo Robles as part of Senior Night festivities.