Men’s Soccer Ties Ranked Opponent
October 12, 2009 • By Michael Demsky,
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JMU Remains Undefeated at Home Following 3-3 Draw Against George Mason in CAA Matchup
HARRISONBURG, Va. — The JMU men’s soccer team battled back from a two-goal, second-half deficit against No. 23 George Mason to force a 3-3 tie on Saturday.
Madison (6-2-2 overall, 1-1-1 in conference) overcame leads on two separate occasions against the defending Colonial Athletic Association champions at the JMU Soccer Complex.
The game’s first half was a brawl, with both teams feeling each other out in what was expected to be a tense, hard-fought match. Two Mason (7-3-1, 2-1-1) players were given yellow cards in the first half: sophomores Eber Martinez for dissent toward the referee and Draymond Washington for illegal contact with a JMU player.
The Dukes didn’t have a clean game either, as they committed nine fouls in the half.
“First half we didn’t handle [the chippiness] well, and for part of the second half we didn’t handle it well either,” JMU coach Tom Martin said. “We got caught up with the emotions of the game.”
Despite the 22 total fouls called in the first half, both teams were able to put chances on net, with opportunities to give JMU the all-important first goal.
The Patriots took advantage of several missed opportunities by JMU to take a 1-0 lead 30 minutes into the half, as forward Victor Freeman corralled a rebound and put it past the powerless Madison goalkeeper, Ken Manahan.
Freeman’s goal started a pressure-filled final 15 minutes of the half.
Eight minutes later, a hard foul on Dukes’ junior striker CJ Sapong led to a long free kick from the right side of the field. Midfielder Andrew Harvey, who entered the game midway through the half, took the kick. Harvey, a lefty, was able to put the entry ball into the top left corner of the net from 40 feet out.
“To be honest, I’ve never done something like that before,” Harvey said. “You just learn as a kid to hit hard at the far post, and that’s what I did. I got a little bit lucky, and it went right in.”
With the game tied at 1-1, both teams seemed to settle down. But after a series of collisions in JMU’s defense, Mason reserve forward Parker Walton broke free. The undefended Walton got to the box, dribbled around Manahan, and put his shot in to give Mason the lead with five minutes left in the half.
Seven minutes into the second half, Mason forward Ernesto Marquez turned and fired a bullet from outside the box, putting it in the top left corner and boosting Mason’s lead to 3-1.
“We started the second half with a lot of energy, a lot of positivity, and they scored that very nice goal against the flow of play,” Martin said. “Normally that can bury teams.”
Marquez’s goal led to an offensive charge by Madison.
With Sapong charging towards net, Mason defender Richard Edgar was forced to challenge the ball in the box. A foul was called on Edgar, resulting in a Dukes’ penalty kick. Sapong swiftly took the kick, putting it in the bottom right corner of the goal. The goal gave the Dukes life.
Ten minutes after Sapong’s goal, forward Paul Wyatt got the ball just outside the top of the box. He gathered it, spun and shot the ball with his left foot into the top right corner of the net, tying the match at 3-3 and silencing the Mason bench.
“It’s just one of those perfect ones where you shoot it, and you just know it’s going in,” Wyatt said.
The Patriots defense held, and the game went into overtime.
“First off, we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that situation we were in,” Wyatt said.
With scoreless overtime, the tie gave Madison a respectful outcome against its highest ranked regular season opponent.
The tie leaves the Dukes well within striking distance of the top of the CAA rankings.
“We definitely want to play this team again in the CAA tournament,” Harvey said. “Some of us have played with these kids since we were kids, so it’s always great to play against them.”
contact Michael Demsky at demskymc@jmu.edu
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Best of the 'Burg Supplement
April 29, 2010 Issue in Print
This was one of the roughest soccer games I have ever seen and I just wanted to say that this photo captures the game wonderfully.