HARRISONBURG, Va., March 24, 2009 -- In a battle of top 20 women's lacrosse teams, Virginia pulled away midway through the second half and posted an 18-9 win over James Madison Tuesday night at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.

The Cavaliers, ranked 10th in the IWLCA coaches poll, improved to 7-3 with the victory. JMU, which entered the game ranked 18th by the IWLCA, evened its record at 4-4 after losing its third in a row to a top 20 team.

Virginia scored three times in the game's opening three minutes and led 5-0 with 16:41 left in the first half. The Dukes then outscored the Cavaliers 3-1 in the final eight minutes of the period to close the margin to 6-3 at intermission.

JMU then scored three of the game's first four goals in the second period. Back-to-back scores by Dukes' sophomore Mary Kate Lomady (Abington, Pa./Abington) at 22:50 and at 19:20 finished off the run that got JMU within one goal, 7-6.

But Virginia responded by scoring six unanswered goals to build an insurmountable 13-6 advantage with 7:21 to play. Six Cavaliers scored during the run, with senior Ashley McCulloch (Annandale, Va./W. T. Woodson) leading the way with a goal and two assists.

After JMU junior Susan Lines (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) scored an unassisted goal to close the margin to 13-7 at 7:09, Virginia reeled off three scores in 25 seconds. Junior Brittany Kalkstein (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park Country) scored an unassisted goal at 6:52, then freshman Josie Owen (Gibson Island, Md./Severn) scored off a pass from junior Kaitlin Duff (Bethesda, Md./Stone Ridge) at 6:36. Freshman Julie Gardner (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) fed McCulloch for the third score at 6:27.

McCulloch was the game's leading point producer with three goals and three assists. Weymouth contributed three goals and two assists, and redshirt junior Whitaker Hagerman (North Andover, Mass./Brooks School) had three goals and one assist. Other multiple-goal scorers included Duff, senior Jenny Hauser (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's/St. Agnes) and Owen, each with two goals.

JMU got two goals and an assist from both Lomady and senior Jaime Dardine (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown). Rredshirt junior Kim Griffin (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) also scored twice for the Dukes.

Virginia out-shot JMU 38-21 and had a 20-9 advantage on draw controls after a first half in which each team controlled five draws.

JMU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alex Menghetti (Media, Pa./Penncrest) made 11 saves, one below her single-game career-high.

Virginia's redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Benner (Arnold, Md./Severn School) had five saves in just over 53 minutes of play. Senior goalkeeper Sara Hairfield (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) played the final 6:36 but did not make a save.

* * * *

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The No. 9 Virginia women's lacrosse team used six-consecutive goals midway through the second half to take control of a close contest with No. 19 James Madison, en route to an 18-9 victory at the JMU Lacrosse Complex on Tuesday evening. The win gets the Cavaliers back on track, moving them to 7-3 on the season, while James Madison falls to 4-4.

Nine Cavaliers tallied goals for the Cavaliers, led by senior All-Americans Ashley McCulloch, Blair Weymouth and redshirt junior Whit Hagerman – who each tallied three scores. Senior All-American Jenny Hauser, junior Kaitlin Duff and freshman Josie Owen each contributed two goals, while junior Brittany Kalkstein, junior Caity Whiteley and freshman Julie Gardner rounded out the scoring with a goal each. Three Dukes notched two goals each for James Madison.

1 2    Next  »

2009-03-25