HARRISONBURG, Va. – In front of 812 fans, the sixth largest crowd for a men’s soccer match at Sentara Park, the James Madison defense stepped up and pressured the UCLA attack, allowing it to come away with a 1-0 victory on Sunday night in non-conference action.

The Dukes moved to 2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2013, while the Bruins, who were the top team receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason National Rankings for Division I, dropped to 1-1.

JMU faced 11 shots from UCLA, allowing them to only put three on goal. Sophomore Sebastian Conlon earned his first shutout of the season with three saves. Junior Balint Kocso provided the lone goal, scoring in the 73rd minute off a header, and led the team with three shots.

How It Happened
• The JMU attack began less than a minute into the match, with redshirt junior Evan Southern having his shot blocked 58 seconds into the first half.
• UCLA couldn’t get off its first shot until the 17th minute when Conlon saved Sean Karani’s chance.
• The backline of the Dukes held UCLA to only two corner kicks and three shots during the first 45 minutes.
• Freshman Luca Nikolai put the first shot on frame for the Dukes in the 34th minute.
• After a scoreless first half, the attack of the hosts carried over to the second half with a corner kick in the 47th minute.
• The Bruins picked up their tempo, taking eight shots in the second half, but the Dukes pressured and forced off target shots.
• JMU broke the scoreless tie in the 73rd minute after UCLA turned the ball over and it found its way to redshirt junior Chay Strine. Strine sent a pass to Nikolai who dribbled just pass the midfield line and serviced a pass where Kocso met it at the very top of the box and floated the ball over the UCLA keeper.
• In the 90th minute, with less than 30 seconds remaining, UCLA has a pair of chances to equalize, but the shots from Sean Karani and Tucker Lepley, respectively, were blocked and wide.

Quoting Head Coach Paul Zazenski
“The pace was a little slow tonight, but I think that was okay. I think our guys really responded well to problem solving and understanding what we needed to do to be successful. It was great to see, and we defended very well. I was very proud of the guys’ effort on the defensive side of the ball. The whole backline, as well as the other seven guys on the field, were really committed to the defensive side of the ball.

Up Next
The Dukes hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Radford on Friday, Sept 1 for a 7 p.m. kick off before going to Gardner-Webb on Sept. 5 for a 7:30 p.m. match. Both away contests will be streamed on ESPN+.

— JMU Athletics —