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JMU women’s soccer downs Drexel in double OT, 2-1

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jmu logoThe James Madison women’s soccer team earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory Friday night in double overtime against Drexel in Colonial Athletic Association play at Vidas Soccer Complex.

“An outstanding road win for us to say the least,” JMU head coach Dave Lombardo said. “We played a tough Drexel team and showed a lot of heart and grit to pull back from being down a goal late in the second half. We had a couple tough breaks that forced us to change a few things but the team stepped up to the challenge and I’m really proud of our effort in this one.”

Junior forward Rachel Ivey (South Riding, Va./Freedom) scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute when junior midfielder Kelly Kerrigan (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) sent a contested ball across the face of goal and into open space in the left side of the box. Senior forward Katie Hyland (Islip, N.Y./Islip) retrieved the ball and put it back into the middle of the box. The pass found Ivey and the junior tapped in her fourth goal of the season.

Now with four goals on the year, Ivey is tied with sophomore forward Ashley Herndon (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) for the team lead. With the assist, Hyland now has 48 points in her career, which is good for 19th on the program’s all-time list as she moved past Sarah Cebulski in the game and now sets her sights on Sam Andresch, who tallied 53 points while playing for JMU from 1993-96.

The first two goals of the match both came in the 72nd minute and were scored just 45 seconds apart.

Drexel got on the board first when Melissa Chapman scored her fourth goal of the year. The senior defender headed the goal home right out in front off a corner kick taken by Megan Hammaker.

Sophomore midfielder Allie Bunner (Bristow, Va./Patriot) pulled the game back even at 1-1 when she tallied her first goal of the season less than one minute later. Herndon set up the goal by dribbling into the box and drew Drexel goalkeeper Kelsie Fye off her line. With Fye leaving the goal open, Herndon touched a pass to Bunner who put the equalizer away.

With the assist, Herndon now has a team-high 16 points on four goals and eight assists. The 16 points puts her fourth in the conference and two points behind William & Mary’s Emory Camper for third in the CAA. Herndon is also now tied for 18th with Heather Selvitelle on the program’s all-time assists list with 15 in her career.

The win snaps Drexel’s eight-match unbeaten run, which dated back more than one month as the Dragons’ last loss came onSeptember 11. The loss dropped Drexel to 7-6-2 overall, 4-1-1 in the CAA. Entering the weekend, Drexel was in first place in the CAA.

With the victory, JMU moved to 10-6 overall and 5-1 in CAA play. The Dukes are now tied for first place with Northeastern, who beat UNCW 1-0 Friday night to improve to 5-1 in CAA play and 10-4-2 overall.

The 10 wins give JMU its second double-digit win season in a row and ninth in the last 11 years. The Dukes have now won three straight matches for the second time this season. The first time JMU won three straight came at the start of the season when the Dukes started 3-0.

Prior to giving up the goal in the 72nd minute, JMU had not allowed a goal in the previous 283 minutes of game action spanning the course of five-plus halves. Before the goal, the last goal the Dukes had given up came in a 2-0 loss to Northeastern on Oct. 5 in the 57th minute on a penalty kick. In the run of play, JMU went 333 minutes between allowing goals, which also dated back to the eighth minute of the Northeastern match.

Drexel, which played in its fifth overtime game of the season, dropped to 1-2-2 in overtime games this year. It was the second-straight overtime game for the Dragons after taking a 3-2 decision Sunday, Oct. 12, on the road at William & Mary. The match was the first overtime game of the year for JMU.

Madison finishes the road portion of its schedule Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, against Delaware in Newark. Former player and assistant coach Rachel Chupein is a member of the Delaware coaching staff after spending the last five years on the JMU staff before leaving for the Blue Hens in the offseason. Towson came out a 1-0 victory Friday night over Delaware in Newark to drop the Blue Hens to 6-8-1 overall, 2-3-1 in CAA play.

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