Early Goal By Huskies Dooms Dukes

Friday, October 9

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

9-5-0 (3-1-0CAA)

Northeastern

10-4-1 (3-1-1CAA)

Northeastern

James Madison

10/9/2015 10:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - An early strike by the Northeastern led to a 1-0 defeat for the James Madison women's soccer team in Colonial Athletic Association action on Friday night at University Park.

Play remained even throughout with the Huskies (10-4-1, 3-1-1 CAA) holding a 12-10 lead in shots and a 12-7 margin in corner-kick opportunities. However, the Dukes (9-5, 3-1 CAA) controlled a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal.

Following a 90-minute lightning delay, Northeastern wasted little time going on the offensive. Senior goalkeeper Ellen Forrest was forced into her first save of the game in the fifth minute, which she turned away for a NU corner.

Two minutes later, the Huskies earned another corner opportunity, which was played into the box and bounced around. A JMU defender finally headed the ball away but the clearance attempt fell at the feet of NU midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo, who vollied the ball off Forrest's hand and into the back of the net.

Junior forward Sydney Braun-McLeod led the Dukes with four shots, three of which landed on goal, but quality offensive chances were hard to come by. The Dukes' best opportunity came during a four-minute period in the second half when Braun-McLeod found space on the left side of the field and forced two saves by Northeastern goalkeeper Natalie Nidetch.

Nidetch recorded the clean sheet with six saves while Forrest took the defeat with four stops on five shots faced.

The Dukes return to the pitch Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host Hofstra in the first meeting between the programs since the Pride defeated JMU 4-3 in the 2014 CAA semifinals.

NOTEWORTHY
Tonight marks only the second time in their last 18 matches that the Dukes have been held scoreless. It also happened on Sunday, Sept. 20 when the Dukes also fell, 1-0, at Marshall earlier this season.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
With her four-save performance against Northeastern, senior goalkeeper Ellen Forrest now has 20 saves in her last three games and 54 on the season. The Midlothian, Va. native came into tonight's contest ranked third in program history in goals against average, allowing only 1.27 goals per game.

COACH'S QUOTE
"[Northeastern] got a good early chance and they buried it," head coach David Lombardo said. "I think we had a little mental lapse on that corner kick and to their credit they scored the goal."

UP NEXT
The Dukes hold a 9-6-2 advantage in the all-time series against CAA-rivals Hofstra. The Pride enter Sunday's game having defeated the Towson Tigers, 2-1, on Friday night.