#12 JMU Sees Winning Streak End in 14-12 Loss to #8 Virginia

Wednesday, March 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

7-2, 0-0CAA

Virginia

5-4, 0-2ACC

Virginia

James Madison

#12 JMU Sees Winning Streak End in 14-12 Loss to #8 Virginia

3/18/2015 9:50:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Using a 7-1 run spanning the two halves, eighth-ranked Virginia snapped the 12th-ranked James Madison women's lacrosse team's seven-game winning streak Wednesday night as the Dukes fell 14-12 to the Cavaliers at University Park.

JMU falls to 7-2 on the year while the Cavaliers improve to 5-4 with a 0-2 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

With five seconds remaining in the first half, Virginia's Liza Blue scored to break a 5-5 tie after JMU turned the ball over with less than one minute to go in the frame. Taking the momentum into halftime, Virginia pounced on the Dukes and scored six of the next seven goals to take a 12-6 lead with 13:53 to play.

Trailing by six, JMU mounted a valiant comeback effort in scoring six of the game's final eight goals down the stretch. With less than four minutes to play, senior attacker Stephanie Finley scored twice to make it 14-11 with 1:52 to play. On the ensuing draw control. Virginia's Courtney Swan earned the draw control and helped Virginia salt the game away. Though the Cavaliers turned the ball over with 1:28 to play and the Dukes scored with five seconds to go, the comeback fell short as JMU took its first loss since Feb. 1 when it fell to then-No. 2 North Carolina.

Finley and redshirt-sophomore attacker Betsy Angel led the Dukes with three goals apiece. Junior midfielder Jaci Gordon was the only other JMU player to score multiple goals in the contest. Both Finley and Gordon picked up a team-high two draw controls in the loss.

Blue led the Cavaliers with four goals, three ground balls and three draw controls while Kasey Behr and Kelly Reese each tallied twice off the bench. Courtney Swan, who came in as the team's leading scorer with 14 goals and 14 points, was held to just one goal and one assist, but she picked up three ground balls and came away with four draw controls to leave her mark on the game.

The Cavaliers outshot JMU 29-26 in the game while Virginia won the draw control battle 16-12. Each team turned the ball over 11 times.

JMU returns to action on Saturday, March 21, when it takes on top-ranked Maryland at noon in College Park. The Terrapins mark the fifth ranked opponent thus far on JMU's 2015 schedule.