Gamecocks Earn 1-1 Draw at James Madison

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Adam Luckhurst’s equalizer in the 72nd minute helped the South Carolina men’s soccer team (2-5-2, 1-1-1) pick up a point in the Sun Belt standings with a 1-1 draw at James Madison (4-3-3, 0-2-1) Saturday night (Sept. 30).

The Gamecocks came out on the attack to begin the match, putting up a pair of shots before the Dukes attempted their first. Martin Yahia had the first opportunity of the match in the 8th minute, but a JMU defender just knocked it away from the empty net.

Ben Alexander made five first half saves for the Gamecocks in goal, but James Madison held a 10-4 advantage in shots for the half.

South Carolina again came out on the attack, quickly attempting two shots. However, it was JMU jumping out in front in the 65th minute as they scored off a header on a ball inside the 18-yard box.

The lead would be short lived for the Dukes as Adam Luckhurst connected on his team-leading third goal of the season in the 72nd minute. Jordan Illian served a ball into the 8-yard box, where it bounced around off the JMU goalkeeper and a Carolina attacker. It eventually found Luckhurst on the left side of the box, where he quickly turned and connected on a spinning kick, scoring to the upper 90 of the far post.

Alexander made three more saves in the final 18 minutes of the match to earn the draw. He finished with a career-high nine saves in the match.

For the match, JMU led 17-8 in shots, 10-4 in shots on goal, and 8-4 in corner kicks.

South Carolina returns to Stone Stadium Tuesday (Oct. 3) to host Jacksonville at 6 p.m.

For the latest on men’s soccer, visit GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team’s social media accounts on Twitter @GamecockMSoccer, Facebook /GamecockMSoccer, and Instagram @GamecockMSoccer.