HARRISONBURG, Va. – The William and Mary men's soccer team fell in its regular season finale, 2-1, at James Madison on Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Tribe's lone goal came from senior Chris Albiston in the 69th minute. The Tribe's record falls to 6-11-1, 3-4-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Dukes improve to 7-6-4, 3-2-2 in league action.
W&M, which fired the match's first shot, also had the first good scoring chance in the 17th minute. Freshman William Eskay sent a long ball that found sophomore Reilly Maw right outside of the 18. Maw drove to the top of the box, but his chance was stopped by JMU goalkeeper Kyle Morton.
The Tribe continued its attack and had another excellent chance in the 28th minute. William Eskay had the ball and faked a pass that gave him a clear lane to the goal. He fired his shot on frame, but Morton was able to make the save.
James Madison, however, got on the board first, with a goal in the 38th minute. Connor Coward came free into the box and fired a shot that was blocked by a Tribe defender. The rebound found the foot of Jonathan Barden, who buried his shot into the back of the net. The tally gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead.
W&M had the first two chances of the second half. Off of a corner kick, the Tribe played it back off a defender, who sent a cross into the box that redshirt freshman Alfonso Speed headed off the cross bar. The rebound came right down to Maw, who had his header punched out by Morton.
The Green and Gold found the equalizer in the 69th minute of the match. West sent a long ball down the field that found Albiston, who took the ball away from the goalkeeper, and scored into the empty net. Albiston's seventh goal of the season tied the score at 1-1.
James Madison scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute, in similar fashion to how they tallied their first one. Josh Grant recorded a shot on target that was turned away by senior goalkeeper Bennett Jones. The rebound came down to Barden, who buried the rebound. Barden's second goal of the night gave the Dukes a 2-1 advantage.
The Dukes outshot the Tribe by a margin of 10-8, including a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal for the evening. Jones recorded three saves in goal for the Tribe. Offensively, Maw recorded a team-high three shots on the night.
The Tribe, which concluded its regular season schedule with this match, will wait and see how the rest of the CAA standings shake out. Stay tuned to TribeAthletics.com for all Tribe men's soccer information.
