HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison men's soccer jumped two spots in the United Soccer Coaches National Rankings for Division I, coming in at No. 8 the organization announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Â
The ranking is the highest from the organization since being ranked eighth a season ago.
Â
Additionally to its ranking by United Soccer Coaches, JMU is ranked seventh in the TopDrawerSoccer Top 25 Poll, the highest ranking by the outlet since the spring 2021 season.
Â
The Dukes drew then-No. 5 Marshall on Friday night, 2-2, as redshirt seniors
Josiah Blanton and
Evan Southern both scored for the Dukes to move their record to 5-0-4 overall and 1-0-1 in Sun Belt Conference matches. JMU is one of five undefeated teams remaining and is out to its first nine-match undefeated start to a season since 2004.
Â
JMU has had tremendous play on the defensive side of the ball to aid in its ranking. Nationally as a team, the Dukes rank tied for first in shutout percentage (.667), tied for second in total shutouts (six), tied for third in goals against average (0.556) and fifth in save percentage (.833).
Â
Offensively, the team is led by sophomore
Jeffrey Aguilar and redshirt senior
Evan Southern who both have a team-leading seven points. Redshirt senior
Yanis Lelin has three goals to lead the team, while Southern's five assists are a team high.
Â