CU players celebrate after advancing in the NCAA tournament.
(Photo/Scott Eyre)
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Matt Lock, Bissafi Dotte and Thibaut Jacquel scored second-half goals and No. 24 Campbell defeated No. 15 James Madison 3-1 Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament at Sentara Park.
After securing the first postseason victory in the program’s Division I era (since 1977), the Big South Conference champion Camels (17-2-2) will travel to Charlottesville to face No. 1 Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Campbell tied school records for wins in a season and longest unbeaten streak (15) while outshooting the Dukes 11-4. The Camels improved to 7-0 on the road in their 15-match unbeaten string (14-0-1) and have not lost since a 1-0 setback Sept. 17 at Coastal Carolina.
“It’s tough anytime you come on the road, but I thought the effort level was great, and we were locked in for an NCAA performance,” said Campbell coach Dustin Fonder. “We just wanted to advance, scoring three goals was a bonus, and now we give ourselves the opportunity to do something great.”
Moments after a James Madison unsuccessful counter, the Camels scored on a counter of their own. Alex Egeonu launched a shot from a sharp angle inside the box that JMU keeper T.J. Bush could not hold. Lock pounced on the rebound to net his sixth goal of the year and give the Camels the lead in the 54th minute.
In the 77th minute, Dotte rose to head home Eren Elbustu’s corner kick to double the advantage on the freshman’s second goal this season.
Just over four minutes later, with JMU pushed forward, Ian Rees played a long ball to Jacquel, who dribbled by Bush and tallied his nation-leading 18th goal of the year.
Lewis Long IV broke up the shutout with just 2:02 left in the match for the final score.
Campbell finished with an 11-4 edge in shots, 6-2 in shots on target, and took seven corner kicks to three for the CAA champion Dukes (11-7-3).
In a scoreless first half, Campbell out-shot the Dukes 6-1 and took five corner kicks to one for the hosts. Egeonu broke in from the right wing in the 38th minute, but Bush covered his low shot at the near post.
After entering the contest third nationally in goals per game (2.8), the Camels improved to 7-2-1 on the road this season. Campbell also extended its streak to 855 minutes without trailing – a span of more than nine complete matches. The last time the Camels fell behind their opponent was in the 15th minute at Winthrop on Oct. 9.
Campbell earned its first victory against a nationally-ranked team in five seasons under Fonder (1-5-3).
(Campbell media services provided the basis for this report)
