HARRISONBURG, Va., April 6, 2007 -- Sixth-ranked James Madison held off a second-half Towson rally and handed the Tigers a 13-8 defeat in Colonial Athletic Association women's lacrosse Friday afternoon at the JMU Lacrosse Field. JMU improved its record to 8-2 overall as the Dukes won for the seventh time in their last eight matches. It was the first league game of the year for the defending CAA champion Dukes. Towson dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

JMU junior Emily Haller (Fallston, Md./John Carroll) scored all three of her goals in the opening period as the Dukes held a huge 10-2 lead at halftime. Senior Lynlea Cronin (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) and Haller scored back-to-back goals in less than a minute to give JMU a 2-0 lead at 24:27. Towson sophomore Hillary Fratzke (Centerville, Md/Queen Anne's County) then netted the first of her game-high four goals at 23:25 to get the Tigers on the scoreboard.

JMU, however, ran off six straight goals in just under 15 minutes to pull ahead 8-1 with 2:09 left in the half. In that span the Dukes' six goals came on just nine shots. Meanwhile, JMU junior goalkeeper Kelly Wetzel (Catonsville, Md./Mount De Sales) made stops on five of seven Towson shots in that same time frame.

Fraztke converted a free-position attempt with 1:30 remaining for Towson's second goal of the half, but JMU responded with two scores in the final 11 seconds of the period. Haller netted the first off a feed from senior Kelly Berger (Columbia, Md./Hammond). Berger then got the ensuing draw control, and Haller scored with just two seconds on the clock, with the assist coming from junior Annie Wagner (Annapolis, Md./St. Paul's).

Towson scored three times in the opening eight minutes of the second half to begin a 5-1 scoring run that pulled the Tigers within four, 11-7, midway through the half. Fratzke opened the half with an unassisted goal at 26:46, and Towson senior Shannon Witzel (Pottstown, Pa/Pottstown) added two more unassisted scores at 24:24 and 22:01. After a JMU goal by junior Natasha Fuchs (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) at 21:44, junior Ali Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J/Montclair Academy) scored off a pass from Fratzke, and Fratzke added an unassisted goal at 16:36 for the 11-7 margin.

In the last 16 minutes, Towson out-shot JMU 9-5 but the Dukes outscored the Tigers 2-1 for the final 13-8 margin. Wetzel made six saves on the nine shots, including two stops on free-position attempts.

JMU was led in scoring by Haller, senior Maria Bosica (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) and Wagner, each with three goals. Bosica also had two assists and Wagner one assist. With one goal and one assist, Berger moved into a tie for second place on both JMU's career goals list (161) and career assist list (71). She tied JMU head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe (JMU '97) on the all-time assist list. In addition to her four goals, Fratzke had one assist.

Towson held a 30-24 advantage on shots and controlled 12 draws to 11 for JMU. Wetzel finished with 14 saves, and Towson junior goalkeeper Mandy Corry (North Caldwell, N.J/West Essex) stopped seven shots.

Score by Period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson..............  2  6 -  8
James Madison....... 10  3 - 13
 
Towson SCORING:
GOALS: Fratzke, Hillary 4; Witzel, Shannon 2; Woodfield, Britt 1;
       Alati, Ali 1.
ASSISTS: Fratzke, Hillary 1.
 
James Madison SCORING:
GOALS: Bosica, Maria 3; Wagner, Annie 3; Haller, Emily 3; Cronin,
       Lynlea 2; Berger, Kelly 1; Fuchs, Natasha 1.
ASSISTS: Bosica, Maria 2; Berger, Kelly 1; Fuchs, Natasha 1;
         Wagner, Annie 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson.............. 11 19 - 30
James Madison....... 14 10 - 24
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson..............  7  6 - 13
James Madison....... 10  9 - 19
 
DRAW CONTROLS BY PRD  1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson..............  7  5 - 12
James Madison.......  6  5 - 11
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     Total
----------------------------------------
Towson..............  7-7   6-9  - 13-16
James Madison....... 11-15  5-7  - 16-22
 
FREE-POSITION SHOTS    1     2     Total
----------------------------------------
Towson..............  1-2   0-4  -  1-6
James Madison.......  1-3   1-2  -  2-5
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson..............  2  5 -  7
James Madison.......  6  8 - 14
 
FOULS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson.............. 12  9 - 21
James Madison....... 13 14 - 27
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Towson..............  8  6 - 14
James Madison.......  8  7 - 15

2007-04-06