Madison outshoots Dragons 12-8 but struggles to capitalize
Posted on October 8, 2007
Madison entered Friday’s Colonial Athletic Association opener against the Drexel Dragons with a 1-4-3 record and a five-game streak of games decided in overtime. Drexel ended that streak when forward Bryan Ruff scored on a header and broke a 1-1 tie with just 1:44 remaining.
“We left them open and we didn’t man-mark very well earlier in a similar situation,” JMU coach Tom Martin said. “That time that kid had a free header, and we put ourselves in a hole now. We really did, because we needed to get some points out of this game.”
The Dukes had not played since a Sept. 27 contest against Howard, and could not shake off the bad luck that has plagued them this season. Madison was previously undefeated against Drexel, but the series now stands at 4-1-1 after JMU’s first loss to the Dragons.
“We had some good things at times and we had some bad things at times,” senior midfielder Tristan Murray said. “It needs to be consistent; we can’t go up and down, we gotta stay consistent and put in a full 90 minutes — that’s the only way you’re gonna get Ws in the CAA.”
JMU had a 6-1 advantage in shots with 10 minutes left in the first half, but Drexel forward Carlos Ruthner scored three minutes later on an assist from Fabio Assumpcao in the 38th minute. Murray scored his third career goal and the only one for JMU in the 75th minute, only to have Drexel respond by capitalizing on a corner kick with less than two minutes left.
“It would be different if we go back and look at statistics and we don’t have any chances,” Martin said. “We hit the crossbar, we missed a couple of open goals and we make a couple mistakes that end up turning the game.”
Madison led Drexel in shots 12-8 for the game, but the Dragons controlled the pace early on. The Dukes responded by making positional adjustments, as they used four substitutes in the game.
“We had to pick some things up and make some changes in midfield. We weren’t fighting for the first balls and we weren’t winning the second balls,” Martin said. “So we made a couple changes, we put Ekom [Etuk] at right back, we pushed [Billy] Swetra into midfield along with Tristan, [played] Kyle [Morsink] as a deep forward, and the quality of our play turned up.”
Morsink, a junior forward, accounted for two of Madison’s shots in the game. Sophomore forward Jean Tshimpaka had four shots in the game, and junior midfielder Nick Zimmerman had three.
“At this point in the season, we would like to [have] a lot better win-loss record, but it’s not really about that — it’s about improving game to game,” Zimmerman said. “It’s unfortunate that a couple chances haven’t went our way, but on the positive at least we’re getting the chances.”
JMU lost to Delaware (1-7-1 overall, 1-1 in the CAA) 0-1 Sunday and has either lost or tied in eight straight games. When Delaware scored in the 71st minute, it was their first lead of the season.
Madison (1-6-3 overall, 0-2 in the conference) will look to reverse its luck against a 5-4-2 William and Mary team that won its first two conference games this past weekend. JMU plays Friday at William and Mary, and then travels to Old Dominion (5-4-1 overall, 2-0 in the conferene) Sunday for its fourth CAA contest.
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