Dukes Turn Away Commodores, Punch Ticket to AAC Championship Game

Thursday, May 1

Norfolk, Va.

4:30 p.m.

James Madison University

13-4

Vanderbilt

9-9

VANDY

JMU

Dukes Turn Away Commodores, Punch Ticket to AAC Championship Game

5/1/2025 7:56:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

NORFOLK, Va. – Four Dukes grabbed hat tricks, and No. 1 James Madison lacrosse held No. 4 Vanderbilt to just two second-half goals to take the American Athletic Conference Semifinal win, 16-6, on Thursday afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.

Brianna Mennella led all scorers with a career-high four goals and one assist on five shots. Savannah Derey, Maddie Epke, and Olivia Matthews recorded natural hat tricks while Epke won a game-high 13 draw controls. Payton Root provided five assists to lead all players, tallying her seventh game of the season with at least two helpers.

Defensively, Carolyn Thistlewaite led JMU (13-4, 6-0 AAC) with three ground balls and one caused turnover. JMU provided a season-high-tying 11 assists on 16 goals and outshot the Commodores 31-19.

Adanya Moyer made her 13th start in the cage and made seven saves for a .583 saves percentage in just under 53 minutes of action. Caitlin Boden took things to the finish line, making one save.

The Commodores (9-9, 3-3 AAC) were paced by Brooke Baker with two goals, while Alex Gladding and Anna Taraboletti caused two turnovers each. Molly Joyce made the start in the cage and made nine saves.

How it happened
First Quarter – James Madison 4, Vanderbilt 2

The Dukes started fast, with Derey opening the scoring on the game's first possession. Mennella followed with back-to-back goals to make it 3-0 JMU halfway through the opening frame, as the Duke defense did not allow a shot from Vanderbilt in its first three possessions.
After another Mennella score, the Commodores got in a rhythm and cut the deficit in half to trail 4-2 after one.

Second Quarter – James Madison 9, Vanderbilt 4

Vandy netted another goal to cut the lead to one, but Mennella sparked another 4-0 run for an 8-3 lead with 8:45 to go in the second.
The Commodores would get just one more goal in the quarter, and Chloe Bleckley snuck in a goal right before halftime to make it 9-4 JMU at the break.

Third Quarter – James Madison 13, Vanderbilt 4

JMU turned up the defensive intensity and held a 5-0 edge on draws in the period to hold Vanderbilt scoreless.
Matthews recorded her third hat trick of the season and second in consecutive fashion, netting all three of her goals in the third.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 15, Vanderbilt 5

The Commodores got two scores in the final frame, but the Dukes held firm as they allowed just one draw control in the period and ran out the clock for the win.

Game Notes

JMU provided a season-high-tying 11 assists on 16 goals.
Mennella's four goals give her three hat tricks on the season, as four Dukes have now recorded three or more hat tricks in 2025.
Moyer posted her eighth game of the season with an above-.500 save percentage.
Epke scored for the 36th straight game, and passed both Nora Maguire and Monica Zabel to move into the top-ten in career points at JMU, as she tallied 202 for her career to sit at ninth all-time. She is also now tied with head coach Shelley Klaes for 11th all-time in assists with 71.
Epke outdrew the opponent by herself for the eleventh time this season, as the Dukes moved to 10-1 when she does so.
JMU recorded three scoring runs of 3-0 or more in the contest, improving its record to 13-1 when doing so. The Dukes also allowed a scoring run of 3-0, and improved its record to 7-4 when doing so.
Saturday will mark the third straight appearance in the AAC title game for James Madison.

Up next
No. 1 JMU will meet the winner of No. 2 East Carolina and No. 3 South Florida in the AAC Championship game on Saturday, May 3. Opening draw is set for noon and will be streamed on ESPN+.