HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Penn State men's soccer team (5-7-2, 2-2-2 Big Ten) battled with a talented James Madison team (10-3-2, 6-1-0 CAA) on the road, but ultimately fell late in the game, 1-0, Saturday evening at Sentara Park.
"That was an excellent team we played tonight who presented us with a lot of challenges," said head coach Jeff Cook. "Our team worked extremely hard and played our way into the game really well. It was unfortunate to concede a goal after such a tremendous effort by our players."
The Dukes held on to possession for most of the first half, testing junior goalkeeper Arie Ammann and the rest of the Nittany Lion defense.
Ammann and the squad responded to the JMU offensive attack, with Ammann making four huge saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless.
The crossbar was on Penn State's team in the second half, after back-to-back Duke chances hit off the post in the 59th minute.
The Dukes offense continued putting pressure on Penn State throughout the half, and were able to score the game-winner in the 86th minute after a blocked shot was rebounded by JMU's Carson Jeffris and shot into the bottom-left corner of the net past Ammann.
Ammann finished with a career-high six saves in the match.
The all-time series between the two programs moves to 4-4-2.
Up next the Nittany Lions stay on the road for their final away game of the regular season. Penn State will face Maryland in College Park on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, marking the Nittany Lions' TV debut in 2018.