HARRISONBURG, Va. – Tyler Clegg scored the game-winning goal with 5:19 remaining in double overtime, as 2018 NCAA quarterfinalist James Madison held off Loyola University Maryland men's soccer to claim a 3-2 victory on Sunday night.
Daniel Osuji and
Davey Mason had the goals for the Greyhounds, with Mason forcing overtime on a strike with 5:34 left in regulation. Loyola drops its fourth-consecutive one-goal game to begin the year, with three of those defeats coming to teams which reached the NCAA tournament last fall.
Two freshmen helped open the scoring for the visitors in the 41st minute.
Albert Kang's initial attempt was blocked, but the ball bounced straight to Osuji, who maneuvered around a defender and blasted a shot into the top right corner for his first collegiate goal.
That 1-0 score held until the 53rd minute, when Manuel Ferriol equalized for JMU. Loyola's backline blocked the first two shots from the Dukes, but Ferriol sent a low effort through the backline and into the back of the net. JMU moved in front 10 minutes later, as Tim Estermann beat goalkeeper
Chase Vosvick after being led in on a breakaway.
The Greyhounds kept pushing for an equalizer, with
Josh Fawole forcing a diving save out of T.J. Bush with 12:40 remaining. The visitors were eventually rewarded in the 85th minute, when
Justin Ingram's free kick made it to the feet of Mason in front. He then fired a low shot past Bush into the left corner for his second-career goal at Loyola.
Both teams had strong chances in the first overtime session. Vosvick robbed Clegg in a 1-on-1 situation 1:45 in, and
TJ Walker whistled a shot just above the crossbar in the 95th minute. Klegg's game-winner was the first shot for either side in double overtime, as he chipped a shot over a charging Vosvick from 20 yards out.
JMU finished with a 18-12 lead in shots, while the Greyhounds earned five of the game's nine corner kicks. Fawole had a team-high three shots in the defeat.
Loyola makes its season debut at Ridley Athletic Complex next Saturday, hosting 2018 Ivy League champions Princeton in a match scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
