Eagles' Season Closes With 1-1 Draw Against JMU - Georgia Southern University Athletics

Sunday, November 1

Statesboro

1 PM

Georgia Southern University

8-5-5, 3-4-3

James Madison

9-5-3, 7-1-2

Team	1	2	Final F
James Madison	0	1	1
Georgia Southern	1	0	1

Photo by: Connor Haines / Georgia Southern Athletics

11/1/2026 4:52:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Georgia Southern plays the SBC champions to a tie; finishes the 2026 season 8-5-5

STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's soccer wrapped up the 2026 season by playing regular season Sun Belt Conference champion James Madison to a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at Bo Pitts Field.

The Eagles finish the campaign with an 8-5-5 overall record, a 6.5 win improvement from a year ago, and a 3-4-3 mark in the Sun Belt Conference. JMU will enter next week's Sun Belt tournament as the No. 1 overall seed with a 10-5-2 overall record and a 7-1-2 mark in the league. Georgia Southern finished ninth in the league standings, missing a berth into the SBC Tournament by one spot and two points.

Georgia Southern would take a 1-0 lead against the Dukes into halftime thanks to a goal in the 33rd minute by fourth-year midfielder Emma Chapman. The Eagles had the ball on the right side and Maya Zmistowski and Addison Comer worked a give-and-go, with the ball crossing the top of the box to Chapman, whose shot beat James Madison goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb to the upper right for her second goal of the season.

The Eagles would carry that 1-0 lead into the break despite JMU holding a 7-3 edge in shots.

In the second half, the Dukes were able to equalize in the 77th minute as the Sun Belt's leading scorer, Ginny Lackey, took a pass from Ellie Farrell and uncorked a shot from just outside the box that curled into the upper right corner for her 15th goal of the season.

Needing a win to qualify for the Sun Belt tournament, the Eagles pressed forward to look for the winning goal. With 12 seconds remaining, an apparent handball in the box was reviewed and not given; instead a corner kick would be the last gasp for Georgia Southern. The corner was cleared away by the Dukes and the match ended in a 1-1 draw - the first draw in the series between the two teams.

"It was a great performance from our kids," Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach. "Despite the other results, I can tell you that our team left it all out on the field. They followed the game plan to a T. I'm very proud of their effort and they did exactly what I asked them to do."

JMU finished the match with a 14-6 edge in shots. Quinn Wilson made six saves in net for the Eagles, while DeCerb had one save for the Dukes. JMU had a 6-1 edge in corner kicks and the Dukes were whistled for six fouls and one offsides, compared to five fouls and one offsides for the Eagles.