Smit's Fourth Quarter Winner Pushes Dukes Past App State

Friday, October 23

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

(8-6, 7-1)

App State

(8-8, 4-4)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
App State	0	1	0	0	1
James Madison	0	1	0	1	2

Game Notes

10/23/2026 5:30:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A fourth quarter game-winner from Emma Smit helped push James Madison field hockey (8-6, 7-1 MAC) to a 2-1 victory over App State Friday at the JMU Field Hockey Complex.

Smith and Azul Covarrubias were a dynamic duo offensively, both notching three points with a goal and an assist in the game. JMU's first score saw Covarrubias put in a beautiful goal off a penalty corner with an assist from Smit coming from a behind-the-back pass. Later in the fourth, Smit tapped in the game-winning goal for the Dukes with the assist going to Covarrubias, giving JMU the 2-1 lead.

Ava Drexler-Amey, Ella Dunstan, and Avery Ruckman also took shots, leading to a total of six overall shots for the Dukes. Additionally, the Dukes' defense was a key aspect of their success as they were able to hold off App State for the last fourteen minutes to solidify their win. JMU held App State to just one shot on goal and five total shots for the afternoon.

How It Happened

Off a Dukes penalty corner in the second quarter, Smit passed the ball behind her back to Covarrubias, who then buried it in the back goal, scoring the first goal of the game and putting the Dukes into motion.
Right before halftime, the Mountaineers tied the score when Sophia Baxter assisted a Kassie Paul goal from about 10 feet out.
Going into the second half, 1-1, the Dukes were able to fend off two App State corners in a back-and-forth third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Covarrubias hit a strong drive into the circle, which Smit tapped in, propelling the Dukes into the lead and ultimately winning them the game, 2-1.

Game Notes

With this win, the Dukes extended their winning streak to seven games, a streak they've maintained since Sept. 27th. Four of those wins have been by multiple scores, while the Dukes have outscored their opponents 26-7 in that span.
JMU's conference record is now 7-1 as the Dukes remain in a tie with Miami for second place with 21 points.
JMU increases their lead in the all-time series, now making their record 21-5-1 against the Mountaineers. This win also breaks a four-loss streak to App State, with the Dukes last win coming in 2018.
As Smit made the first game-winning goal of her career, Covarrubias achieves her 16th career assist.

Up Next

James Madison will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face off against No. 10 Wake Forest on Sunday at 12 p.m.