HARRISONBURG, Va. - Down 1-0 at halftime, the La Salle Explorers topped the James Madison women's soccer team, 2-1 on the strength of two second-half goals at University Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Explorers came out of the break quickly, earning a corner kick a minute and 19 seconds into the second half. The corner, taken by midfielder Fia Jonsson, soared into the crowded goal box, bounced off of Deja Davis and went right to Marykate Bateman who scored the equalizing goal in the 47th minute.
La Salle then took the lead exactly two minutes later. Attempting to gain the ball back from the Explorers, a JMU defender was called for a foul on the edge of the box. Jonsson stepped up to take the penalty kick and slotted the ball into the right side of the net.
The Dukes earned their first-half lead on a long goal by junior Ashley Herndon. The forward dribbled the ball through the center of La Salle's defense and fired the ball from about 25 yards out into the bottom-left corner past the diving Explorer goalkeeper.
Despite the Dukes holding a 15-7 lead in shots taken, La Salle took one more shot on goal by a 4-3 margin. Both JMU senior goalkeeper Ellen Forrest and La Salle goalkeeper Larisa Zambelli made two saves in the contest.
Rising The Record Boards With today's goal, the 17th of her career, Herndon now sits alone at 17th on the all-time career goals list. An 18th goal would move her into a tie for 16th in JMU women's soccer history with Sarah Cebulski. Â Noteworthy The loss snaps the Dukes' four game win streak in which they defeated VCU (2-0), East Carolina (1-0), Liberty (2-1) and Maryland (1-0, OT). The streak was the team's longest since 2013 when they won six games in a row between Oct. 3 and Oct. 25. Â Freshman Spotlight Freshman forward Carmen Thomas made the first start of her collegiate career after appearing in the team's last two outings prior to today. Â Coach's Quote "I thought we played a pretty sharp first half," said head coach Dave Lombardo. "We scored a nice goal out of that, but in the second half we lost focus." Â
Next Up The Dukes return to the field Friday, Sept. 18 when the Richmond Spiders make their way to Harrisonburg for a 5 p.m. start.