No. 18 Dukes Blank No. 21 UCLA in Draw

Sunday, August 25

Los Angeles, Calif.

10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT)

James Madison University

0-0-2, 0-0-0

UCLA

1-0-1, 0-0-0

James Madison

UCLA

8/26/2024 12:29:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – No. 18 James Madison men's soccer recorded its second clean sheet in as many matches to begin the season as it drew No. 21 UCLA on Sunday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.

Both teams remained unbeaten in the young season, as the Dukes moved to 0-0-2 and the Bruins are 1-0-2.

Redshirt seniors Chay Strine and Josiah Blanton led the attack for JMU with two shots each. Junior Sebastian Conlon played the full 90 minutes in goal making two saves, as he recorded back-to-back shutouts for the third time in his career.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
That was a great college soccer match with two very good teams. We have defended well to open up the season and a lot of credit goes to our backline and goalkeeper for their performances. We were on the road for 14 days so it will be nice to sleep in our own beds and start to prepare for a good NC State group.

How It Happened

It was a defensive stalemate in the first half, with the Dukes getting off a pair of shots in the opening eight minutes before the next shot was taken by either team in the 24^th minute.
None of UCLA's four shots in the opening 45 minutes were on goal.
UCLA had a shot from Edrey Caceres got saved by Conlon in the 50^th minute, the first shot on goal for the Bruins in the match.
Conlon made another save in the 66^th minute to his right, diving to keep the Bruins off the board.
Sophomore Jeffrey Aguilar had a chance on goal in the 75^th minute as he snuck up in front of the UCLA goalkeeper, but his shot was ultimately saved.
In the 77^th minute, a cross in to redshirt senior Demitri Turner found its way through three UCLA defenders. Turner was set up outside the six but fired the shot high.

Game Notes

JMU begins the season with back-to-back shutouts for the first time since opening the spring 2021 season with a trio of clean sheets. The last fall season to see the Dukes open the season with two shutouts was in 2003 with three straight.
The Dukes move to 2-1-2 in their last five matches against ranked opponents, all coming on the road.
The two shots from Chay Strine and Josiah Blanton were both career-high-tying marks for the redshirt seniors.

Up Next
The Dukes will play their first match in front of the JMU faithful in 2024 as they return to Sentara Park on Saturday, Aug. 31 to host NC State at 7 p.m.