Field Hockey Battles Drexel to Penalty Strokes, Falls 4-3

Friday, September 23

Harrisonburg, Va.

7:00 PM

James Madison University

Drexel

Field Hockey Battles Drexel to Penalty Strokes, Falls 4-3

9/24/2011 12:30:00 AM | Field Hockey

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 23, 2011 – Freshman forward Taylor West (Princess Anne, Md./Pocomoke) scored her first career hat trick to help the James Madison field hockey team force overtime against Drexel, but the Dragons converted all four of their penalty stroke attempts to earn a 4-3 win at the JMU Field Hockey Complex on Friday night.

It was the third straight overtime game for the Dukes who dropped to 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Drexel, the two-time defending regular season CAA champion, upped its record to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.

“It was a heck of a game,” head coach Antoinette Lucas said. “We had our opportunities to win the game, and we've won in the last two overtimes. It just didn't fall our way this time.”

West recorded JMU's first three-goal game since Dolores de Rooij (2007-10) scored three against Northeastern on Oct. 31, 2010. It was the first hat trick by a freshman since junior midfielder Auburn Weisensale (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) and Tori Lindsey (2009-10) each did it against Radford on Sept. 30, 2009. She now has six goals and 13 points on the year in just three games played.

Weisensale, junior midfielder Jenna Taylor (Midlothian, Va./James River) and freshmen Taylor Bailey (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford) and Dana Allaband (Elkton, Md./Rising Sun) each added assists to help lead the Madison offense.

Midfielder Amanda Fleischut led the Dragon offense with a goal and an assist while recording a game-high seven shots. Forward Meghan Plank and midfielder Alexandra Atiyeh each chipped in with goals while Elizabeth Koch had an assist.

Senior goalkeeper Margo Savage (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) made a career-high 13 saves in goal for JMU while playing all 100 minutes. She allowed three goals while facing 24 total shots in dropping to 2-3.

Kim Chiarelli played the first 100 minutes in net for the Dragons and made four saves and allowed three goals, but did not factor into the decision. Brooke Underwood came in for penalty strok