Men’s Soccer: #1 UVA remains unbeaten with win over #18 JMU

Top-ranked UVA (11-0-1) used a second half goal from Irakoze Donasiyano (Roanoke, Va.) to take down No. 18 James Madison (9-4-1), 1-0 on Tuesday night at Klöckner Stadium.

The shutout was the Cavaliers, NCAA-best 10th of the season.

Donasiyano broke the scoreless deadlock in the 78th minute when he came up with a loose ball 25 yards out and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net for the eventual game-winning score. Donasiyano was credited with his third goal of the season, moving him into a three-way tie for the team lead.

“What a way to win the game on a spectacular goal like that, I give him all the credit, great, great goal,” head coach George Gelnovatch said. “It was a good game and JMU is a very good team. That’s the same team that beat a couple of ACC teams in the NCAA Tournament last year and the same team that beat Wake (Forest) this year when they were No. 1. They are an ACC quality opponent with that group.”

Donasiyano had been on the doorstep all night, firing four shots, second only to Nathaniel Crofts’ (Sheffield, England) five. Donasiyano rung a shot off the crossbar in the 66th minute before finding the back of the net 12 minutes later.

The Cavalier defense, that came into the night with the country’s lowest goals against average (0.18), was tested with seven shot attempts and five that went on target. Cavalier goalkeeper Colin Shutler (Middleburg, Va.) made a season-high five saves and collected his 10th shutout of the season and the 18th of his career. He moves into sole possession of seventh place on Virginia’s career shutout list.

Virginia out-shot James Madison, 17-7 and held a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. The Cavaliers controlled 66 percent of the game’s possession.

The Dukes became the fifth, ranked opponent to fall victim to Virginia this season and fourth by way of the shutout. The Cavaliers improve to 20-4-2 all-time against James Madison and are unbeaten in their last 20 matches against the Dukes.

The Cavaliers will continue their home stand on Friday (Oct. 18) with an Atlantic Coast Conference match against Pittsburgh. The Virginia men’s soccer program will celebrate Alumni Weekend on Friday night an honor its 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2009 National Championships teams with pregame and halftime ceremonies. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will air live on ACCNX.