Pictured above, left to right: Seniors Rahul Chaudhry, Christian McLaughlin, Dale Robins-Bailey, Trey Messiah, Paul Wyatt, Gene Daniels
HARRISONBURG,
Va., Oct. 28, 2012 -- Sophomore
Josh Grant (Plymouth, England/Torpoint
College) scored on a rebound with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the James Madison
men's soccer team a 2-1 win over visiting
Georgia State in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup Sunday
afternoon at University Park.
The Dukes, who extended their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1),
improved their overall record to 8-5-3 and their CAA record to 6-1-2. Georgia State dropped to 4-12-0 overall and
1-8-0 in league play.
With only an Oct. 31 match at Drexel remaining, JMU has assured itself of no
worse than a third-place finish in the CAA standings.
The game-winning goal came after Panthers senior goalkeeper Vincent Foermer (Seevetal, Germany/Meckelfeld) made a diving stop
on a shot by JMU senior Paul Wyatt (Modbury, England/Ivybridge)
from the right side of the box. However,
the ball rebounded off Foermer, and Grant knocked the ball into the net from
eight yards out.
It was Grant's team-leading fourth game-winner of the season.
JMU took an early 1-0 lead as Wyatt headed in a corner kick from freshman Tom
Fouhy (Buckinghamshire, England/Dr.
Challoner's) with just 1:16 elapsed.
The Panthers drew even on a goal by sophomore Ali Elkhalil (Marietta, Ga./Walton) in the 32nd minute. Freshman William
Mellors-Blair (Nottingham, England/Nottingham Bluecoat) sent a pass from
the middle of the field to Elkhalik on the right side of the box. Elkhalil hit a hard shot from 15 yards out to
the far post, and the ball hit the post and ricocheted to the right side of the
goal.
GSU dropped its fifth straight match.
The Panthers have now lost eight of 12 games by a single goal.
Game Statistics Summary:
Shots: JMU 20, GSU 7
Saves: JMU, Kyle Morton 2 (99:32); GSU, Vincent Foermer
5 (99:32)
Corner kicks: JMU 4, GSU 4
Scoring: JMU - Paul Wyatt (Tom
Fouhy), 1:16
GSU - Ali Elkhalil
(Williams Mellors-Blair), 31:03
JMU - Josh Grant (Wyatt), 99:32
JMU Associate Head Coach Tom Foley:
" We knew Georgia
State was a good team despite their record.
They knock the ball well, they defend very well, and they're never going
to give up."
"We didn't give up at all. We created
opportunities to score goals, we missed a few, but the guys kept working. We were able to create good opportunities in
the overtime. They outworked their
opponent in the overtime and were finally able to finish (a chance) and get the
victory."
Game Highlights
First Half
JMU - Paul Wyatt heads a corner kick from Tom Fouhy into the net from six yards
to the near post, 1:16.
GSU - A shot by senior Alex Reyes (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins
Hill)from eight yards hits the
side netting, 5:12.
JMU - A header by Josh Grant is cleared off the goalline by senior Eric Lawrence (Columbus, Ga./Pacelli), who heads the ball away just inside the left
post, 19:07.
JMU - A cross by junior Karel
Manrau
(Neuchâtel, Switzerland/Jean-Piaget) nearly sails into the goal, but senior goalkeeper Vincent Foermer (Seevetal, Germany/Meckelfeld) controls the ball, 28:21.
GSU - Ali Elkhalil sends a hard shot from the right side from 15 yards. The ball hits the left post and ricochets
into the net, 31:03.
GSU - A shot by senior Alex Vivanco (Cumming, Ga./South
Forsyth) from just outside the 18
is just wide right of the goal, 40:03.
Second Half
JMU - A shot by Paul Wyatt from 27 yards is a few yards high of the goal,
55:19.
JMU - Jamal Umar receives a pass right in front of Foermer 12 yards from the
goal. Foermer makes a point-blank save
on Umar's shot, 72:08.
Overtime
GSU - Junior Jamal Keene (Atlanta, Ga./Hiram) takes a shot from the right side from just outside
the box. Freshman goalkeeper Kyle Morton (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) jumps to make the stop, 95:18.
JMU - Josh Grant knocks in a rebound from eight yards after Foermer stops a
previous shot by Wyatt, 99:32.
Of Note:
* CAA Standings: JMU remains in
third place in the CAA standings with 20 points. The Dukes' next opponent, Drexel, holds first
place with 22 points, and Northeastern is second with 21 points.
* CAA Tournament: The top six teams in the final CAA standings
qualify for the CAA Tournament. (Old
Dominion, currently in fifth place, is not eligible for the tournament.) The number one and two seeds receive
first-round byes, while the number three and four seeds host the number six and
five seeds, respectively, in first-round games on Nov. 3.
* Drexel, Northeastern, JMU and Hofstra (15 points) have all clinched spots in
the CAA Tournament. Drexel can clinch
the top seed with a win over JMU on Oct. 31.
JMU has a chance to finish first, but the Dukes must win at Drexel and
Northeastern must tie or lose its Oct. 31 game at ODU. Should the JMU-Drexel game end in a tie,
Northeastern can claim the top seed with a win at ODU.
* Career Lists: With a goal and an assist in the win over
Georgia State, Paul Wyatt increased his career totals to 26 goals and 62
points. He moved into 15th place on JMU's
career goals list and is just one goal away from 13th place. He moved to 19th place on the career points
list.
* Streaks: JMU is unbeaten (4-0-1) in its last five
games. GSU lost its fifth in a row.
* Close Games: Ten of JMU's 16 games have been decided by a
single goal. JMU has a 6-4 record in one-goal
games and is 4-0 in its last four one-goal decisions. GSU has a 1-9 record in one-goal games and
has lost its last four matches by just one goal.
* Overtime: JMU is undefeated (2-0-3) in overtime
contests.
* Grant Game-Winners: All four of Josh Grant's game-winning scores
have come in CAA competition: Sept. 15
vs. Hofstra (2-1), Sept. 29 vs. Towson (4-0), Oct. 20 at George Mason (2-1) and
Oct. 28 vs. Georgia State (2-1 OT).
