CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A second-half comeback was not enough as James Madison field hockey fell to No. 8 Virginia 3-2 at the University Hall Turf Field on Sunday afternoon.
Down 3-0 in the second half, sophomore forward
Casey O'Donnell lifted the ball over the goalie in the 60th minute and into the corner of the net for her third goal of the season. Junior forward
Melanie Kusakavitch cut the deficit in half in the 69th minute on a rebound, but the Cavaliers held on for the win.
Virginia outshot the Dukes 27-11, but junior goalie
Sara Kraeutler made nine saves. The Cavaliers' Carrera Lucas made six stops.
The Cavaliers opened the scoring right before halftime behind a goal from Caleigh Foust. Virginia added two more goals by Riley Tata and Erin Shanahan, respectively, to take a 3-0 lead by the 58th minute.
JMU fell to 12-6 on the year, while Virginia improved to 12-7.
DEFENSIVE SAVES
Sophomore
Florien Sondern made a career-high two defensive saves against the Cavaliers. She leads all Dukes with four this season.
RANKED FOES
JMU finishes the regular season with a 2-4 record against ranked opponents.
UP NEXT
The Dukes head to Newark, Del. for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship as the No. 3 seed next weekend, facing No. 2 William & Mary at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.