No. 20 Lacrosse Suffers 8-7 Setback at Rutgers

Saturday, March 15

Piscataway, N.J.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

4-3

Rutgers

4-4

James Madison

Rutgers

3/15/2014 8:28:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J., March 15, 2014 – After scoring only twice in the second half, No. 20 James Madison lacrosse suffered an 8-7 setback at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon. The Dukes fell to 4-3 on the season in their fifth-straight one-point decision while the Scarlet Knights improved to 4-4 overall.

Tied at 5-5 at the start of the second half, Rutgers broke the tie just 1:11 into the final set with a free-position score. It was the Scarlet Knights' first lead of the day (6-5).

JMU tied the game at the 19-minute mark off a connection between junior Ali Curwin (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) and freshman Leah Monticello (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford), but Rutgers scored in quick succession to push its lead to two goals (8-6). A tally by junior Stephanie Finley (Media, Pa./Sacred Heart) with less than five minutes to go pulled the Dukes within one, but they were unable to score again.

Junior Schylar Healy (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty H.S.) notched the loss, saving 11 shots and allowing eight goals. She held Rutgers scoreless for the final 17 minutes of play.

Amanda Currell earned the win after committing 11 saves on 18 shots on goal and holding JMU scoreless for a 14:24 stretch in the second half that allowed the Scarlet Knights to take the lead for good.

The Dukes scored the first two goals of the game, both coming off free-position shots by Curwin and redshirt senior Amy Roguski (Sykesville, Md./Liberty H.S.). Rutgers answered with a man-up goal before redshirt freshman Betsy Angel (Baltimore, Md./Roland Park Country School) scored her first career goal off an assist by Finley to push the lead back out to two (3-1).

The Scarlet Knights scored the next two goals of the game for the first tie of the game. With 8:13 left in the first half, Angel tallied her second career goal off a pass from Monticello to break the tie (4-3). After another quick goal by Rutgers, Monticello found Curwin to retake the lead with 5:50 left before halftime.

With both teams holding steady, Rutgers managed a last-minute shot before heading to the locker room and tied the game at 5-5 with just eight seconds left on the clock.

Curwin led JMU with three goals while Angel scored her first two career goals against the Scarlet Knights. Monticello assisted on two goals while Finley and Roguski notched a goal and an assist each.

Lauren Sbrilli scored the eventual game-winning goal with 17:29 left on the clock, converting the free-position attempt for her second score of the day. Three Scarlet Knights scored twice on Saturday as Sbrilli was joined by Kim Kolodny and Megan Clements.

JMU returns to the Commonwealth as the Dukes travel to No. 6/10 Virginia on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m.