No. 20 James Madison field hockey suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday morning in heartbreaking fashion as the Dukes fell to No. 13 Northwestern 2-1 in overtime in a neutral-site game at Wake Forest’s Kentner Stadium. The Dukes dropped to 4-1 on the year while the Wildcats improved to 4-3 overall.
Just 56 seconds into the first overtime period, Northwestern’s Caroline Troncelliti struck for the game-winning goal from just in front of the net after picking up a right side pass from Isabel Flens. The duo scored the first Northwestern goal of the day as well, with Troncelliti making a shot from six yards out off a pass from Flens to put the Wildcats up 1-0 in the 62nd minute of play.
Junior back Loes Stijntjes (Steenokkerzeel, Belgium/Heilig Hartcollege) tied the game at 1-1 with 1:19 to play in regulation after dribbling to the top left of the circle and firing into the right side of the net.
Senior goalkeeper Hannah George (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) was tabbed with the loss (4-1) after allowing two goals but making eight saves, including five denials in the second half. Northwestern’s Maddy Carpenter tallied the win after allowing one goal and making two saves in the game.
The Wildcats outshot the Dukes 15-6, including a 9-3 edge in the second half of regulation, and a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal. JMU and Northwestern each earned six corners through the first 70 minutes of play.
No. 20 JMU returns to the JMU Field Hockey Complex on Friday, Sept. 19 as the Dukes take on Missouri State at 7 p.m.
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Chris Graham
