Men’s Soccer Records First Season Conference Loss at James Madison

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky men’s soccer (3-4-5, 2-1-2 Sun Belt) leaves RV James Madison (7-1-5, 3-0-2 Sun Belt) with the first loss of 2024 conference play falling 2-0 on Saturday at Sentara Park.

The Wildcats and Dukes were tied for third place in Sun Belt standings leading up to the match with both teams undefeated in conference competition.

The first half of regulation remained scoreless for the Wildcats as the Dukes scored twice in the 25’ and 35’. The first goal was scored by Jeffery Aguilar who was assisted by Luca Nikolai to put JMU up 1-0 over Kentucky. After 10 more minutes of play, Nikolai broke away for a goal of his own, unassisted. Heading into the halftime period down 2-Nil, Kentucky and James Madison tallied an equal amount of corner kicks with two each plus nearly even numbers of shots as UK recorded five to JMU’s six.

Both the Dukes and Wildcats were unable to score in the second half with the final score ultimately staying at 2-0 JMU. Kentucky out-shot James Madison 12-4 in the second half but struggled to get a ball in the net for a Wildcat goal. Senior Logan Dorsey led the Cats in attempted shots with four, three on goal. JMU’s goalkeeper saved 10 total shots from UK.

Kentucky and James Madison hold an all-time series record of 3-1-1 (UK) with the first contest taking place in 2022. The Saturday night result was the first loss to the Dukes recorded over five matches played.

The Wildcats will continue on the road to Orlando, Fla. where they will face Central Florida on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. EST matchup.

Big Blue Nation can purchase single match, group, and season tickets by clicking here. Tickets will also be available for purchase upon arrival to The Bell. Gates will open one hour prior to kick-off.

For the latest on Kentucky Men’s Soccer, follow @UKMensSoccer on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.