HARRISONBURG, Va., March 29, 2008 -- Senior Julie Stone (Annandale, Va./Annandale) scored as time expired as James Madison held off 10th-ranked (IWLCA) Stanford 10-9 in women's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at the JMU Lacrosse Complex. The Dukes, playing their third straight game against a Top 10 opponent, improved to 4-5. JMU remained unbeaten at home with a 4-0 record. Stanford dropped to 6-5 as the Cardinal suffered its third consecutive defeat.

Stone's goal, her fifth of the match, came after Stanford had battled back after trailing by five goals with nine minutes remaining. With JMU holding a 9-4 lead, the Cardinal took advantage of five Dukes' turnovers and scored five times in a span of 8:03. A defensive play by Stanford junior Maris Perlman (North Kingston, R.I./Lincoln School) started the comeback. She forced a turnover by JMU senior Annie Wagner (Annapolis, Md./St. Paul's) to give the Cardinal the ball with 11:10 remaining.

Although Stanford had two free-position scoring opportunities in the next 2:03, both shots sailed wide of the goal. However, sophomore Julie Christy (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga) got the first score in the 5-0 run with an unassisted goal at 8:37. Stanford controlled the ensuing draw, lost the ball on a turnover but regained it when senior Katharine Fox (Lutherville, Md./Roland Park) forced a JMU turnover. Less than a minute later sophomore Dana Lindsay (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) put the ball in the net at 6:30 to close the lead to 9-6.

The Cardinal got the next draw, then lost possession but got the ball back when JMU turned the ball over. Senior Daphne Patterson (New York, N.Y./St. Andrew's) scored the third of her game-high three goals at 5:04 to draw Stanford within two, 9-7. After JMU controlled the draw, the Dukes lost possession again, this time on an errant pass. Patterson fed senior Megan McClain (Dallas, Texas/Hockaday) for a goal at 3:55 that cut the JMU lead to 9-8.

Shots by Stanford freshman Karen Nesbitt (Cincinnati, Ohio/Syacamore) at 1:55 and by Fox at 1:12 went wide of the mark, and JMU gained possession with just over a minute to play. However, a JMU pass missed its intended receiver, and Perlman got the ground ball with under a minute to play. McClain then netted the tying goal with 34 seconds remaining.

Stone got possession for the Dukes on the draw control, and JMU called time out. When play resumed, senior Lucy Lynch (London, England/Caterham) worked the ball behind the Stanford cage and then delivered a pass to Stone at the top of the 12-meter fan. Stone weaved through the defense toward the goal and her shot went into the net just as the final horn sounded.

After a back-and-forth first half that ended in a 3-3 tie, the Dukes erupted for four goals in the first 10:10 of the second half. Stone scored just 37 seconds into the half off a pass from senior Natasha Fuchs (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore), then added an unassisted score 2:54 into the period. Fuchs had the next goal 4:20 into the half, and Wagner scored with an assist coming from sophomore Meredith Torr (Timonium, Md./Bryn Mawr) 10:10 into the period to put JMU up 7-3.

After Stanford's Lindsay scored at 18:48, Stone and Haller tallied back to back goals that gave the Dukes their biggest lead, 9-4 at 12:44. Stone's goal at 15:13 was assisted by Haller, and Haller's goal at 12:44 was assisted by Stone.

For the game JMU held a 21-18 advantage on shots and had 12 draw controls to eight for Stanford. In addition to Stone, multiple-goal scorers for JMU were Hall and Fuchs with two each. Stanford's top scorers were Patterson with three and Lindsay and McClain with two apiece.

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2008-03-29