JMU Advances to NCAA Second Round with Win against Army West Point

Friday, May 12

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

18-2

Army West Point

15-4

Army West Point

James Madison

JMU Advances to NCAA Second Round with Win against Army West Point

5/12/2023 6:29:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 7 James Madison lacrosse pulled away in the second half and defeated No. 14 Army West Point 12-8 in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship first round at Sentara Park on Friday.

The Dukes improved to 18-2 overall while Army finished the year at 15-4. The 18th win marks the second-most in a season in JMU history, only behind the 2018 team which won 22 games.

Redshirt junior Isabella Peterson scored four goals on a career-high 15 shots, putting 10 on goal. JMU's offense was also boosted by a hat trick from redshirt junior Taylor Marchetti and a pair of goals from freshman Maddie Epke. JMU sent a season-high 40 shots toward the Black Knights' cage.

The Dukes' defense caused 14 turnovers, four each by redshirt senior Rachel Matey and junior Carolyn Thistlewaite. Matey added five ground balls and Thistlewaite four to help limit Army to 21 shots and limit its 17th opponent to fewer than 10 goals. Goalkeeper Kat Buchanan made seven saves on a .467 save percentage and added three ground balls.

For Army, goalkeeper Lindsey Serafine made 14 saves for a career high, doing so on a .538 save percentage. Julia Gorajek and Julia Franzoni each netted hat tricks.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – James Madison 3, Army 1
Marchetti struck twice for a pair of goals 1:49 apart, giving JMU a 2-0 lead. After Army got on the board, Peterson restored the two-goal lead at 4:15. JMU took 13 shots and came up with eight ground balls.

Second Quarter – James Madison 6, Army 4
Peterson scored twice to complete her hat trick before Tai Jankowski scored from the free-position to give JMU its biggest lead of the half at 6-2. Army responded with the last two goals of the quarter, scoring the final one with seven seconds to play. JMU took 13 more shots in the quarter.

Third Quarter – James Madison 9, Army 4
The defense put up a scoreless quarter, picking up four ground balls and limiting the Black Knights to four shots. Peterson, Lizzy Fox and Marchetti each scored goals in the period.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 12, Army 8
The Dukes extended the lead to as much as seven with two goals from Epke. Army scored three times in 1:05 to finish the scoring.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Dukes have won an NCAA Championship game in three straight tournament appearances and won their 15th game overall in the NCAA Championship, with an overall record of 15-17.
JMU improved to 9-3 all-time in home NCAA Championship games and is 9-0 at home this season.
Peterson reached her 17th hat trick of the season.
JMU won the ground ball battle, 24-10, picking up its most ground balls since April 16, 2022 at William & Mary.
This was the first game in 2023 where multiple players had four caused turnovers.

RECORDS AND MILESTONES

Peterson surpassed Gail Decker for the most goals in as single season in JMU history, currently holding 82.
She is also within four points of breaking Decker's record in career points, currently with 264.
The defense has caused 188 turnovers a team, moving into sixth all-time.

UP NEXT
JMU will face the winner of Maryland and Drexel at Sentara Park on Sunday, May 14 at 1 p.m., which will be broadcast on ESPN+ and streamed on the JMU Radio Network.