Dukes Fall in NCAA First Round

Friday, May 9

Charlottesville, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

14-5

Duke

13-5

Duke

James Madison

5/9/2025 10:25:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- #11 James Madison lacrosse couldn't overcome a first-half deficit against Duke and fell 17-10, in the First Round of the NCAA Championships at Klöckner Stadium on Friday evening.

JMU ends its season at 14-5 (6-0 AAC), while Duke improves to 13-5 (6-3 ACC) and advances to the second round against No. 4 Virginia.

Savannah Derey led JMU with a hat trick, while Maddie Epke and Brianna Mennella each recorded a pair of goals, with Epke providing two assists.

Adanya Moyer made her 15th start in the cage for JMU and recorded five saves on 36 shots faced. Five Dukes recorded one caused turnover each while Moyer and Maddie Weybrecht picked up two ground balls each.

Callie Hem led Duke with eight goals on nine shots. Reily Traynor caused two turnovers, while Amanda Paci picked up a game-high three ground balls. Kennedy Everson started in the cage for Blue Devils and made six saves.

How it happened
First Quarter –Duke 7, James Madison 2

Duke forced a turnover off the opening draw to gain possession and take the game's first score. JMU responded with Mennella's first goal after a free-position save from Moyer, followed by an assisted Derey goal to put JMU up 2-1 with 10:43 left in the opening frame.
Duke punched back with a 6-0 run to lead 7-2 after one.

Second Quarter – Duke 10, James Madison 5

The JMU defense held strong to begin the second, as Matthews would punch in a score to narrow the deficit to 7-3 with 9:35 left in the period. An Epke goal made it 8-4 at the media timeout.
Both defenses played a tough quarter as the Blue Devils led 10-5 at the break.

Third Quarter – Duke 12, James Madison 8

Duke opened the period with a goal, but JMU used a 3-0 run capped by a Jordan Peterson goal to make it 11-8 with 6:40 to go in the period.
The Blue Devils grabbed one more score to go into the final frame up 12-8.

Fourth Quarter – Duke 17, James Madison 10

The Blue Devils tacked on five more goals and held JMU to just two goals in the closing minutes to solidify the win.

Game notes:

With 11 draws in the contest, JMU finishes with 339 in the season, setting a record for single-season draw controls.
Maddie Epke finishes her junior campaign scoring in 38 straight games, a record going back to the start of her sophomore season. She also closes 2025 first in career (485), single-season (235), and single-game draw controls (23), seventh in single-season goals (65), tied for sixth in single-season points (88), and tied for ninth in career goals (139).
Payton Root finishes tied for 15th with Kacey Knobloch (2024) in the JMU record book for assists in a single season, providing 29 helpers throughout her freshman year.
The loss snaps a five-game streak of NCAA First Round wins for JMU, who falls to 17-20 all-time in the NCAA Championships.