Dukes Fall Short at No. 9 Virginia Tech

Friday, August 28

Blacksburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

1-2

Virginia Tech

3-0

James Madison

Virginia Tech

8/28/2015 8:41:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Allie Bunner's 62nd minute goal wasn't quite enough to overcome Ashley Meier's two goals for Virginia Tech as James Madison women's soccer fell to the Hokies, 2-1 at Thompson Field in Blacksburg on Friday night.

With the win, the Hokies who sat at No. 9 in the nation in the National Soccer Coaches Asssociation of America Poll entering tonight, improve their record to 3-0 on the season while the Dukes fall to 1-2.

The Hokies took an early 1-0 lead in the 15th minute thanks to Meier's strike off of a Murille Tiernan assist. Meier then doubled her goal-scoring tally in the 53rd minute. Ellen Forrest managed to save one Meier shot attempt, but the rebound came right back to the Virginia Tech senior who put the ball in the back of the net.

Fighting hard to get the Dukes back in the game, Bunner cut the Hokies' lead in half with a nicely placed ball in the bottom left corner of the net thanks to an Ashley Herndon assist.

Despite almost doubling the Dukes' foul total at 17-9, the Hokies led in shots at 20-7 and corner kicks at 11-1.

Noteworthy
With her goal tonight, Allie Bunner now has four goals in the first three games of the 2015 campaign. Entering this season, she only had three goals in her career, combined.

Unsung Hero
In only her third career collegiate contest, freshman defender Hailey Stein collected her third start of the season and played 80 minutes against an explosive Virginia Tech offense to help keep the Dukes in the game until the end.

Rising the Record Boards
Ashley Herndon collected yet another assist on Bunner's 62nd minute goal, giving her 18 in her career. That is good enough to tie for 10th in JMU women's soccer history for career assists.

Up Next
The Dukes will look to bounce back on Sunday when they travel to Richmond to take on VCU at 7:30 p.m.