Behind a first-half surge that saw the James Madison women’s lacrosse team earn a seven-goal advantage on Virginia Tech, the Dukes came away with their first victory of the 2015 season in a 13-8 win over the Hokies on Thompson Field Thursday afternoon.
The victory moves JMU to 1-1 on the season while Virginia Tech falls to 1-1. The victory also improves Madison’s record to 13-0 all-time against VT, dating back to 2001.
JMU never trailed in the contest in jumping on the Hokies out of the gate. Sophomore midfielder Jaci Gordon put the Dukes on the board just 1:26 into the game on a free position shot and sophomore Taylor Gress capitalized on her free position attempt 3:50 later to put JMU up 2-0 early.
Continuing the run to open the game, senior attacker Stephanie Finley was on the receiving end of a pass from sophomore midfielder Leah Monticello, who had earned another free position attempt for the Dukes, and beat VT goalie Meagh Graham on a snap shot from the left post. FreshmanHaley Warden scored the final goal of the opening 4-0 run with 16:09 to go in the first half, earning her first collegiate goal.
After the Hokies got on the board for the first time in the game with 10:32 to go in the first half, sophomore Betsy Angel got the goal back just 12 seconds later to put JMU up 5-1. Angel was the only player to score multiple goals in the first half, as seven different Dukes got on the scoresheet in the frame.
Looking to mount a comeback out of halftime, Virginia Tech scored three goals in the first 5:26, but each tally was answered by JMU, as Gordon scored twice during the stretch to keep the JMU lead at seven.
With 13:58 to play trailing 12-4, the Hokies started one final comeback attempt in scoring three straight goals, two of which came from Megan Will, who led the Hokies with three goals in the contest. Down five at 12-7 with 9:08 to play, Finley notched her third goal of the contest with 5:16 to go to end the Virginia Tech run.
Three Dukes powered JMU on the scoresheet as Gordon, Finley and Angel each tallied three goals in the win. Warden, Monticello, Gress and junior midfielder Brooks Lawler each scored once in the game. Both Finley and Lawler picked up three ground balls. Finley added five draw controls while Lawler came up with three.
Five of the eight Virginia Tech goals were scored by Will or Gracee Hendrix, as the duo led the way for the Hokies. Virginia Tech scored 15 goals in its season-opener against Liberty on Feb. 6 and fired 37 shots in the game. On Thursday against the Dukes, the Hokies were limited to just eight goals as JMU outshot VT 30-23. JMU senior goalie Schylar Healy made 10 saves in the cage, coming up with multiple key saves to keep the Virginia Tech attack at bay.
The Dukes return to action on Sunday, Feb. 15, for a 1 p.m. contest against Connecticut. The game at University Park is the home-opener for JMU and is a rematch game from the 2014 season when the Dukes dropped a 14-13 decision in Storrs, Connecticut, to the Huskies, the first meeting between the two sides all-time.
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Chris Graham
