JMU Lacrosse Defeats East Carolina 19-3, Moves to 1-0 in AAC Play

Saturday, March 16

Harrisonburg, Va.

Noon

James Madison University

7-1

ECU

3-5

East Carolina

James Madison

JMU Lacrosse Defeats East Carolina 19-3, Moves to 1-0 in AAC Play

3/16/2024 4:26:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 4 James Madison commanded all aspects of play in a 19-3 victory over East Carolina in the Dukes' conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Sentara Park.

JMU's second bench-clearing performance of the season improved the team to a 7-1 record and moved them to 1-0 in conference play while the Pirates fell to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in AAC play.

JMU's offense was led by senior attacker Isabella Peterson, graduate student attacker Kacey Knobloch and redshirt junior midfielder Maggie Clark. Peterson found the back of the net five times and recorded an assist, Clark scored three goals, and Knobloch notched two goals and two assists.

The Dukes saw goals from seven other players, including two from sophomore attacker Maddie Epke and two from sophomore midfielder Lauren Savage, while three more Dukes each recorded an assist.

The JMU defense was dominant in the outing, led by sophomore defender Courtney Quirk and senior defender Nicholle Marshall. Marshall secured two ground balls and caused two turnovers while Quirk recorded three ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore midfielder Josie Pell also had a strong showing, with two ground balls and a caused turnover in addition to her goal.

The draw circle was dominated by the Dukes with a 20-5 draw control margin. Epke collected nine draw controls, Peterson secured five, and freshman defender Ava Bleckley recorded four. ECU's five draw controls all came from different Pirates.

Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Boden recorded two periods with shutouts and two ground balls in the matchup. Junior goalkeeper Adanya Moyer and freshman goalkeeper Emily Evans also saw time in the cage in the matchup and allowed just one goal each as they split the fourth quarter.

ECU saw only two players record points in the matchup with two goals from Riley Matthiesen and one goal and two assists from Frances Kimel.

The Dukes outshot the Pirates by a 42-7 margin, scooped up 13 ground balls to ECU's six, and caused eight turnovers without allowing the Pirates to record any.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – JMU 9, ECU 0
The Dukes got off to a hot start with three goals in the first 2:10 of the game. The run forced an ECU timeout, which was followed by six more goals from JMU before the close of the quarter.

Second Quarter – JMU 14, ECU 1
JMU's first-quarter run continued with two goals from Peterson in the first five minutes of the second frame to make the lead 11-0. ECU got on the board with a goal from Kimel but the Dukes responded with three more goals to finish the first half.

Third Quarter – JMU 16, ECU 1
The third quarter saw little scoring, as Savage and Knobloch each recorded a goal for the Dukes. The JMU defense dominated the quarter and Boden held strong in net to shut out the Pirates in the frame.

Fourth Quarter – JMU 19, ECU 3
JMU opened scoring in the final frame with a free-position goal from Savage followed by a Pirates goal by Matthiesen. Junior midfielder Savannah Derey scored for the Dukes and freshman midfielder Aly Yee-Jenkins notched the first of her career with a free-position goal, while Matthiesen found the back of the net once more for ECU to close out the game.

GAME NOTES

James Madison now leads East Carolina 2-0 in the all-time series.
Saturday's win marks JMU's eighth consecutive victory in a conference opener, winning every such matchup since 2016.
The Dukes have won 20 consecutive home games, spanning exactly two years dating back to March 16, 2022 vs. Richmond.
The victory is JMU's seventh consecutive regular season win over an AAC opponent, as the Dukes won all six regular season matchups against AAC teams in their inaugural season in the conference in 2023.
The Dukes' 16 goal win margin is the largest of the 2024 season and largest margin of victory since the Dukes defeated Vanderbilt 18-1 on April 8, 2023.
Knobloch is now tied-10th in all-time assists in JMU history with 64. She also moved into 20th in all-time points in JMU history with 157.
Epke moved into a three-way tie for eighth-most draw controls in JMU history, with 140. She ties Stephanie Finley ('15) and Julie Stone ('08).
With her first and third quarter shutouts, this is first time in Boden's career in which she posted multiple quarters in the same game with zero goals allowed. The outing was the third time in her career in which she secured two ground balls.
Clark's three goals are the most for her this season, having previously scored twice in two different games.
Peterson tied her season-high five goals on Saturday, the fourth outing this season in which she has done so.
Knobloch scored her first free-position goal of the season and the tenth of her career.
Freshman defender Maddie Weybrecht collected the first draw control of her career on Saturday.
Savage recorded five different career high statistics, with two goals, two points, three shots, three shots on goal and the first free-position goal of her career.
Yee-Jenkins notched career highs in four different statistics, scoring once, and recording a point, a shot on goal, and a free-position goal.
Sophomore attacker Jordan Peterson tallied her first assist of the season and the second of her career, having previously recorded one at Vanderbilt on April 8, 2023, while also making a career-high two shots on goal.
Pell secured a career-high two ground balls, while tying her career high of one goal, one shot on goal and one caused turnover.

UP NEXT
No. 4 James Madison (7-1) will head over the mountain to Charlottesville, Va. when it takes on No. 10 Virginia (8-1) on Wednesday, March 20 at 5 p.m. The matchup will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.