The JMU women’s lacrosse team rallied from a 5-1 first-half deficit to earn an 8-7 victory over visiting No. 5 Loyola (Md.) on Saturday afternoon at University Park. With the win, the Dukes advance to 3-1 on the season, while the Greyhounds fall to 2-2.
Sophomore Jaci Gordon (Groton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) got her second goal of the match with 7:40 to play and it proved to be the game winner for Madison, as seven different Dukes tallied goals in the win. Junior goalkeeperSchylar Healy (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) tallied nine saves in the win, as she limited the Greyhounds to just two goals over the final 48 minutes of the game.
After Loyola (Md.) opened the game on a 5-1 run, JMU used its own 5-0 run to bridge the halves and take the 6-5 lead at the 21:23 mark of the second stanza. The Dukes’ first lead of the game came from Gordon after she weaved her way to the goal for a solo shot.
With 12:12 to go, Kara Burke tied the game at 6-all off a pass from Annie Thomas. Madison quickly settled in, however, and set up the tie-breaking score from senior Amy Roguski (Sykesville, Md./Liberty H.S.), a feed from senior Emily Rhoads (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephens & St. Agnes) behind the net with 11:05 left on the clock.
Healy earned the win after committing nine saves and allowing seven goals while Loyola’s Molly Wolf took the loss, making 11 saves and allowing eight goals.
The Dukes outshot the Greyhounds 31-19 in the game. Gordon led the purple and gold with two goals on two shots while Marlee Paton paced the green and grey with two goals on five shots. Rhoads led the Dukes with two assists, and Thomas assisted on a game-high four goals for the Greyhounds.
JMU also edged Loyola (Md.) 9-8 on draw controls, with six of the Dukes’ draws controlled by junior Stephanie Finley(Media, Pa./Sacred Heart). Madison turned the ball over fewer times than Loyola (Md.). While 11 of the Dukes’ 13 turnovers were caused by the Greyhounds, the Greyhounds turned the ball over 14 times, with seven of them caused by JMU.
Loyola (Md.) opened the game on a 5-1 run beginning with a score from Molly Hulseman 29 seconds into the game and ran through the 12:09 mark of the first half off a Hulseman pass to Paton. The lone Dukes’ goal in the first 25 minutes of play came from freshman Leah Monticello (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford), who fired the ball into the upper left corner for the tally.
With 4:46 remaining in the first stanza, Madison began a 5-0 run to bridge the halves. Sophomore Taylor Gress(Westminster, Md./Manchester Valley) started the run after picking up a pass from senior Julianne Giles (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron). Finley picked up a solo score with less than a minute on the clock before half time to cut the Greyhounds’ advantage to 5-3.
Coming out of the locker room, the Dukes wasted no time in cutting further into the Greyhounds’ lead as Giles fired a quick pass from Roguski into the net with 28:58 left in the game. Just over five minutes later, junior Ali Curwin(Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) tied the game at 5-5 for the first time since the opening draw drove toward the net off the quick pass from Rhoads.
JMU continues its run against ranked opponents on Wednesday, March 5 as the Dukes welcome No. 7 penn state for a4 p.m. game. at University Park.
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