Dukes Clinch Share of Regular-Season AAC Title with Senior Day Win

Saturday, April 19

Harrisonburg, Va.

Noon

James Madison University

South Florida

Dukes Clinch Share of Regular-Season AAC Title with Senior Day Win

4/19/2025 4:42:00 PM | General, Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va – #12 James Madison lacrosse held South Florida to a scoreless second half en route to a 20-6 win on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Sentara Park. The victory makes five in a row and clinches at least a share of the AAC regular-season title for the Dukes.

Olivia Matthews and Maddie Epke led the JMU (11-4, 5-0 AAC) attack with four goals each. Matthews also had two assists and picked up a career-high three ground balls while Epke won a game-high 16 draw controls. The 16 draw wins give her 189 in 2025, topping the previous JMU single-season record of 178 which she set in 2024.

Maggie Clark and Savannah Derey also recorded hat tricks, while Payton Root provided two assists for her team-leading sixth game of the season with two or more helpers.

Adanya Moyer made her twelfth start in the cage for JMU and made 10 saves on 22 shots faced for a season-high .625 save percentage, including holding South Florida to 0-of-5 from free-position opportunities.

Carolyn Thistlewaite and Ava Bleckley led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers each, while Bleckley recorded two ground balls. JMU held advantages in shots (35-22), ground balls (16-13), and draw controls (24-6). The Dukes committed more turnovers (18-16) but caused 13 takeaways to USF's 11.

South Florida (11-4, 4-2 AAC) was paced by Kaitlyn Tartaglione with a pair of goals, while Alison Harbaugh provided two assists. Paige Pagano made the start for the Bulls and made 12 saves while giving up 19 goals.

How it Happened
First Quarter – James Madison 6, South Florida 1

Clark began the scoring less than 30 ticks into the action. Scoring stalled for the next five minutes while each team settled before USF evened things up at the 9:14 mark of the quarter.
A Derey goal would then spark a 5-0 scoring run to end the period as JMU led 6-1 after one.

Second Quarter – James Madison 9, South Florida 6

The Bulls took advantage of six JMU turnovers in the second stanza.
Two USF scores cut the margin to just three at 6-3 with 9:17 in the quarter, as the visitors kept pace with the Duke offense, cutting the margin to just one at 7-6 with 4:24 to go in the half. JMU closed the second with two scores to lead by three at halftime, 9-6.

Third Quarter – James Madison 13, South Florida 6

Scoring hesitated as the third period began, with Lauren Savage netting her lone goal at the 9:41 mark.
JMU allowed just one draw control win leading to only five shots in the period from the Bulls as the Dukes took a 13-6 lead into the final frame.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 20, South Florida 6

JMU allowed just a single draw win again in the final frame and piled on seven more goals as the seniors walked off the field for the last time with a win.

Game notes

Epke continued her scoring streak to 34 games, as she recorded her ninth game of the season with at least three goals.
The Dukes recorded two scoring runs of 3-0 or more in the contest and improved its record to 11-1 when doing so. JMU also improved its record to 6-0 when scoring 17 or more goals and 8-0 when allowing under ten goals.
The total defensive effort held a South Florida offensive averaging over 16 goals per game to just six in the contest, its first outing being held under 10 goals this season.
JMU's fourth and fifth goals of the contest came in a span of just 14 seconds, its lowest time between any scores this season. JMU also shutout an opponent for in a half for the first time this season, holding USF scoreless in the second half as it also reached the longest amount of time this season without conceding a goal (34:24).

Up next
#12 JMU will close the regular season next Saturday, April 26 as it travels to East Carolina. Opening draw is set for noon and can be streamed on ESPN+.