Men’s soccer: James Madison pulls off upset of top-ranked North Carolina

James Madison redshirt senior Christian McLaughlin (Herndon, Va./Herndon) converted a penalty kick in the closing minutes of the first half to lift the Dukes to a 1-0 upset of top-ranked and defending NCAA men’s soccer champion North Carolina Tuesday evening at University Park.

UNC (4-1-0), which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA coaches poll and No. 2 in the Soccer America poll, lost for the first time in five games.  JMU evened its record at 2-2-1.

Before a University Park-record crowd of 1,531 the Dukes extended their home unbeaten streak to 14 games (12-0-2), tying the school record set during the 2003-04 seasons (13-0-1).

McLaughlin converted a penalty kick with 3:12 left in the opening half, sending the ball to the left side of the goal while senior goalkeeper Scott Goodwin (Raleigh, N.C./Broughton) dove to the right.

The penalty was assessed when UNC sophomore defender Jordan McCrary (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter) was called for a shove on a JMU player in the penalty area.

JMU out-shot UNC 9-7, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Colin Newcity (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) made three saves to get his second shutout of the year.