HARRISONBURG, Va. - Lewis Rourke scored a late second half goal and Old Dominion men’s soccer finished level, 1-1 against James Madison on Halloween night at Sentara Park.
“Even though we are disappointed to not get three points, I’m really proud of the grit and determination not to give up until the very end,” said ODU head Coach Tennant McVea. “These past couple of seasons we wouldn’t have found a way back into that game and tonight we did.”
In the final three minutes of the second half with the Monarchs (5-5-6, 1-3-4 SBC) down by one goal, Jamie Wynne lofted a high arching cross with forwards Micah Wayland, Michael Eberle, and Rourke waiting for the delivery. The ball would ultimately careen off a Dukes’ (1-10-4, 0-6-2) defender and Wayland tapped it right into the path of Rourke who slotted it home. The Monarchs would continue to apply the pressure to JMU and earned two more corner attempts in the final two minutes. Rourke had his chance at a late double denied by a Dukes’ defender to earn the second set piece attempt. Eberle lofted two crosses towards the middle of the box with less than 10 seconds remaining, but they were cleared out of danger as the game ended 1-1.
The Monarchs had the first chance at goal in the game. Junior midfielder Miguel Menendez found open space in the third minute, but his shot was stopped by JMU’s Erik Jaspers. The Dukes’ Jeffrey Aguilar took the game's second shot and JMU’s first in the eighth minute, but it was off the mark. JMU’s Manuel Lolas had the Dukes’ first chance at goal in the 16th minute, but Michael Statham made an outstretched save towards the upper right-hand corner of the net.
The Monarchs would have a string of chances to score the opening goal in the 24th minute. Menendez had his second shot on goal saved, but another chance came to Marcelo Randolf 19 seconds later in the box, but he was stopped by Jaspers as well. Lolas would have two more shots, in the 27th and 28th minute of play, but Statham had secure hands to make the stop each time. Rourke was the third Monarch to register a shot on goal in the 29th minute, he struck it towards the top right corner of the net, but the ball was met by Jaspers' hand to deny ODU.
Menendez would have ODU’s final chance of the opening half with 10 minutes remaining, but Jasper made his fifth save. JMU had the final word of the first 45 with nine seconds remaining. The Dukes’ Cameron Arnold had an attempt at goal get saved by Statham for his fifth save of the night, but the ball would get crossed back into the box. It was deflected back out of the box and Arnold struck a half-volley to the top left corner off his right foot as the teams went into the halftime directly after, 1-0.
The second half started off slow with only one shot being registered by either squad in the first 15 minutes. The first shot on goal of the final 45 was taken by Rourke in the 66th minute but Jaspers came up big to make the stop. Three minutes later Brock Frasier would have a one-on-one chance against Statham. The senior from Stockport, England made himself big as he came out of the goal and saved the ball with his right arm while not conceding a corner.
“JMU had to put everything on the line tonight to save their season,” said McVea. “We had to deal with their energy. Thankfully, we stayed calm when we needed to. Michael made a massive save to keep us in it and Lewis scrapped to find the goal we needed.”
Old Dominion and James Madison both peppered their opposing goalkeepers. The Monarchs had 12 shots, seven on target. The Dukes had 10 shots, nine on target. JMU held a +2 margin on corner kick attempts (6-4). ODU’s Teagan Dunne, Evan Watt, Jett Aktan, Wynne, Menendez, and Abdou Magib-So all played 90 minutes.
Rourke and Menendez both had a team high three shots with both having a 100% shot on goal percentage. Jake Lane had two shots. Watt, Aktan, Wynne, and Marcelo Randolf all had one crack at goal, but Randolf’s attempt was the only one to get put on target.
UP NEXT:
The Monarchs have their Senior Night on the final game of the regular season as ODU hosts Kentucky on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.