The James Madison men’s soccer team mounted a comeback attempt in the final minutes of Saturday night’s Colonial Athletic Association matchup against Hofstra, but ultimately came out on the short end of a 2-1 decision at University Park on Senior Night.
The Pride (8-4-2 overall, 3-1 CAA) got on the scoreboard first in the 28th minute when Danny Elliott headed home a corner kick from Rory Murphy right in front of the net and redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Morton (West Chester, Pa./Reed Henderson).
Five minutes later, Hofstra tallied again when Morton was whistled for a foul while charging out to contest a loose ball at the top of the box that resulted in a penalty kick for the Pride. Maid Memic, who was named CAA Co-Player of the Week with JMU junior defender Bjarki Aðalsteinsson (Kópavogur, Iceland/Menntaskólinn í Kópavogi) on Monday, Oct. 13, stepped up and hit his kick to the left side into an open goal while Morton guessed and dove to the right.
Making a few strategic changes at halftime, JMU (5-6-3, 1-2-1) came out and put a lot of pressure on the Pride looking to get the two goals back. The pressure finally paid off in the 80th minute when junior midfielder Eric Schmidt (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee) headed home a ball sent into the box on a corner kick. Senior midfielder Jonathan Barden (Harrow, England/Park) sent the kick into the box and the ball was flicked on to Schmidt on the back post by Aðalsteinsson for the goal.
Pressing forward throughout the last 10 minutes to get the equalizer, JMU nearly scored it in the final seconds when senior forward Jamal Umar (Herndon, Va./Chantilly) sent a ball into the middle of the penalty area. On the receiving end was Schmidt again, but he couldn’t quite get his header attempt on goal and it sailed just wide to the left as time ran out.
Both teams fired 13 shots in the match, but Hofstra made more of its chances with nine shots on goal to the Dukes’ three. In what was a very physical match, JMU was whistled for 12 fouls to Hofstra’s seven. The Dukes were issued three yellow cards in the contest as well.
With the loss, JMU drops below .500 for the first time since September 12 when the Dukes moved to 2-2-1 with a 2-1 win at Belmont.
The Dukes return to action Wednesday, Oct. 22, when College of Charleston comes to University Park. First kick is set for 7 p.m.The Cougars last played Wednesday, Oct. 15, and dropped a 3-2 decision at home to William & Mary. Overall, Charleston is 2-8-2 and 0-3-1 in CAA play this year.
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Chris Graham
