No. 9 Dukes Suffer First Setback of the Season Against No. 2 Marshall

Saturday, September 16

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

4-1-2, 0-1-0

Marshall

7-0-0, 1-0-0

Marshall

James Madison

No. 9 Dukes Suffer First Setback of the Season Against No. 2 Marshall

9/16/2023 10:33:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Redshirt senior Rodrigo Robles netted his second goal in as many matches, but No. 9 James Madison suffered its first loss of the season in a 3-1 contest to No. 2 Marshall on Saturday night at Sentara Park in men's soccer.

The Sun Belt Conference opener for both sides, the Dukes dropped to 4-1-2, 0-1 SBC while the Thundering Herd remained perfect at 7-0, 1-0 SBC.

Sophomore Kevin Larsson led the attack for JMU with three shots, followed by Robles' two shots with both put on goal. Sophomore Sebastian Conlon spent the full 90 minutes between the posts, making four saves.

How It Happened

A foul committed by JMU in the 21^st minute set up Marshall with a free kick just outside the far corner of the 18-yard box. Adam Aoumaich snuck the shot off the kick under Conlon's arm to score the first goal.
Marshall netted goals in the 56^th and 59^th minutes to extend its lead to 3-0, scored by Matthew Bell and Taimu Okiyoshi, respectively.
In the 61^st minute, after a foul by the Herd, the Dukes set up for a free kick a few feet outside of the box. After video review, a red card was assessed to the Herd before the kick was attempted, giving JMU a man up advantage.
The Dukes took advantage of the man up opportunity in the 71^st minute, as Robles received a cross from redshirt junior Evan Southern in the box and connected on a header that found the back of the net to get JMU on the board.
In the 77^th minute, Bell was assessed his second yellow card of the match to give the Dukes a two-man up advantage for the remaining 13:03 of the match.
JMU had a pair of opportunities in the 82^nd and 83^rd minutes, but both shots would go wide.

Quick Hits

The attendance of 1,119 is the fifth highest all-time at Sentara Park.
Marshall had six corner kicks in the first half but was held to none in the second half.
There were 11 yellow cards issued and two red cards.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
"Tonight was a combination of us not being at our best and Marshall being very good. We found flow to the game late, but you can't wait until you are down a few goals to start playing. Credit to them as they have a great team and deserve their ranking. We will look to reset and learn from these moments against another good side in Georgetown."

Up Next
The Dukes will play their final non-conference match of the regular season when they travel to Georgetown on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be streamed on FloSports.