Dukes Pick Up Senior Night Win Against Georgia Southern to Clinch Sun Belt Championship Berth

Friday, October 27

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

7-3-5, 3-2-3

Georgia Southern

2-8-6, 1-4-3

Ga. Southern

James Madison

Dukes Pick Up Senior Night Win Against Georgia Southern to Clinch Sun Belt Championship Berth

10/27/2023 10:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A pair of goals in the first half by James Madison men's soccer helped lead it to a 5-1 win against Georgia Southern on Senior Night at Sentara Park on Friday to clinch a berth into the Sun Belt Conference Championship.

The Dukes won their third straight and are unbeaten in six consecutive, as they improved to 7-3-5, 3-2-3 SBC. The Eagles dropped to 2-8-6, 1-4-3 SBC.

Redshirt seniors Clay Obara and Rodrigo Robles, junior Balint Kocso and sophomores Cameron Arnold and Kevin Larsson all scored for JMU. Sophomore Sebastian Conlon made one save in 77:02 of action in goal, while redshirt sophomore Drew Slack played the final 12:58.

How It Happened

Robles put the Dukes in front early, netting his fifth goal of the season after squeezing the ball through Nate Martinez's legs as it rolled across the goal line.
In the 21^st minute, GS took its only shot of the first half as Jacob Sandun Arachchige-Jensen missed wide on a free kick.
Arnold added his third goal of the season after Kocso fought the ball away from an Eagles defender and passed to Arnold who then took Martinez 1-on-1.
JMU extended its lead to three scores in the 49^th minute, as the Dukes were awarded a free kick two yards outside of the box, which Larrson converted for the goal.
A penalty kick goal got the Eagles on the board in the 52^nd minute.
The Dukes regained its three-goal lead two minutes and 10 seconds later when Obara dribbled through three defenders in the box and found an open look at the net.
GS found its first shot on goal in the run of play in the 56^th minute, but Conlon came away with the save.
In the 69^th minute, Larsson stole the ball and made a quick pass to Kocso while spinning to give Kocso the space he needed to score a rocket and give JMU a 5-1 lead.

Quick Facts

The five goals scored by JMU are the most since scoring six against Mount St. Mary's on Sept. 9.
JMU has scored 11 goals in the past three matches, outscoring Old Dominion, Georgia State and Georgia Southern a combined 11-3.
The 23 shots JMU took are the most this season, as they outshot GS 23-3. It is the most shots taken by JMU since 24 against Virginia on Sept. 21, 2021.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
"I'm super proud of the group. We had a goal in mind tonight and it was to see out three points for our seniors here. We have three seniors that have given everything for this program and have done everything the right way so we wanted to make sure when we walked off this field that we secured the three points for them. I think the team played well, we responded and we played our brand of soccer and beat a good side and we are all very confident of how we played heading into the next match."

Up Next
The Dukes will travel to Orlando to take on No. 1 UCF on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. to conclude the regular season.