HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Navy men's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss on the road to James Madison on Wednesday night to cap off its non-league slate at Sentara Park.
 
The Dukes (9-3-2) – who are receiving votes in the national poll – scored in the 14th minute and did not look back as the Midshipmen (1-11-1) were held to six shots in the match. 
 
"James Madison is a good team and we went toe-to-toe with them," head coach Tim O'Donohue said. "We had a lot of good performances tonight. The effort and level from our guys were good and now we need to get ready for our final four Patriot League matches."
 
The offense for both teams had chances to break the scoreless affair within the first 10 minutes of play, but the Dukes put a shot off the post and then were called offsides on a rebound attempt. Jacob Williams (Fr., Millersville, Md.) had the first scoring chance for Navy, but his shot was stopped by TJ Bush in goal for James Madison.
 
Just as the match turned into the 14th minute, the Dukes scored off of a corner kick with Anshelm Melker heading in the set piece from Manuel Ferriol to put James Madison ahead, 1-0.
 
Following the goal, the Dukes generated the majority of the scoring chances, which included four more corner kicks in the half. James Madison recorded seven shots in the first half, compared to just three from Navy. Both sides had only one shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
 
In the second half, the Dukes tried to double their lead in the 66th minute but after the ball was headed in off a corner kick, James Madison was called for a foul to wipe out the goal. The two sides played even on the offensive side of the ball throughout the first 25 minutes of the second half with two shots apiece. 
 
Over the final 20 minutes, Navy was outshot 3-1 as it suffered a 1-0 loss on the road to the Dukes.
 
Michael Hurley (Sr., Arlington, Va.) recorded the lone save of the match for the Midshipmen after coming into play the final 45 minutes. The duo of Williams and Bayne Bentley (Fr., Austin, Texas) paced the offense for Navy with two shots apiece. Williams had the Midshipmen's lone shot on goal in the contest. Navy has dropped its last eight matches.
 
The Midshipmen return home on Saturday at 8 p.m. to host Boston University in a Patriot League match at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.