Defense Powers #16 JMU to 12-6 Victory over Louisville in NCAA First Round

Friday, May 12

University Park, Pa.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

14-6

Louisville

11-8

Louisville

James Madison

Defense Powers #16 JMU to 12-6 Victory over Louisville in NCAA First Round

5/12/2017 10:49:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score Post-Win Interviews Photo Gallery

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 16 James Madison yielded just two second-half goals and used a 5-0 run down the stretch to earn a 12-6 triumph against No. 18 Louisville in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship on Friday night at the Penn State Lacrosse Field.

The Dukes improved to 14-6 and advance to Sunday's second round against No. 4 Penn State, while the Cardinals' season ended at 11-8.

Junior attacker Kristen Gaudian scored a game-high four goals, to go with two ground balls, and senior attacker Margaret Tucker Fogarty netted three goals to lead the offense. Junior midfielder Elena Romesburg had two goals, junior attacker Katie Kerrigan tallied three points off a goal and two assists and senior attacker Leah Monticello dished out a game-high three assists.

Defensively, freshman defender Emma Johnson had three caused turnovers to lead all players, and Haven tallied a career-high three ground balls. Senior goalkeeper Emily Poelma made six save to earn the win in her first career start in the NCAA tournament. After UL scored on three straight free positions, Poelma held the Cards to just 1-of-4 the rest of the way.

The Dukes controlled the pace throughout, out-shooting the Cardinals 25-16, including 20-12 in shots on goal. JMU held a 12-8 draw controls advantage, led by junior midfielder Haley Warden's game-best four. Warden tallied eight hustle stats, adding two caused turnovers and two ground balls. UL had leads in caused turnovers (11-8), while JMU won the ground balls battle (20-13).

Louisville was led by Hanna Koloski, who scored three goals. Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Read made eight saves while conceding 12 goals.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, scoring all three goals from the 8-meter. JMU answered with five straight goals, including a string of three consecutive from Gaudian, to put the Dukes up 6-3 late in the first half. UL ended a drought of nearly 16 minutes late in the frame to make it 6-4 at the break.

After a JMU goal to open the second, the Cardinals scored back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to one, at 7-6, with 15:48 to play. The Dukes responded with a goal, as Romesburg took the pass from Kerrigan and one-timed it into the back of the cage. That score sparked a 5-goal run over a 10-minute span to put the game away.

POST-WIN REACTION

SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
JMU earned its eighth-ever win in the NCAA Championship with the victory over Louisville. It was the team's first NCAA win since a 9-8 triumph over Stanford back on May 15, 2010 in Harrisonburg. It was also JMU's first win in a neutral-site game at the NCAA Championship.

DUKES WIN CAA VS. ACC BATTLE
JMU improved to 3-4 all-time against the ACC in the NCAA Championship with the Louisville win, and the Dukes have now notched a win at home, on the road and on neutral ground versus the league. It was JMU's first NCAA win against the ACC since an 11-8 victory at Virginia in 2001.

LAST COLONIAL SQUAD STANDING
The Colonial Athletic Association put three teams in the NCAA Championship for the first time in 16 years, and after Friday's opening round, the Dukes are the lone CAA team standing. Elon fell 11-9 to Virginia in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Towson was upset, 21-15, versus High Point in College Park, Md.

PHOTO OF THE GAME - view full photo gallery

Romesburg celebrates her first goal of the game, early in the second half.

MOVIN' ON UP
Several Dukes either moved up or entered single-season and career top 20's in Friday's win. Kristen Gaudian scored two free-position goals to tie JMU's single-season record, with 17.

Season
Kristen Gaudian – 17 FP goals (t-1st); 49 goals (t-9th)
Katie Kerrigan – 42 assists (2nd)
Haley Warden – 52 GB (5th), 52 GB (5th)
Hannah Jablonski – 48 DC (t-9th)
Rebecca Tooker – 31 CT (t-10th)
Elena Romesburg – 48 GB (t-12th); 42 DC (t-18th)

Career
Haley Warden – 73 CT (t-10th), 100 GB (t-19th)
Kristen Gaudian – 19 FP goals (t-14th)
Katie Kerrigan – 45 assists (t-17th)
Rebecca Tooker – 47 CT (t-19th)

UP NEXT
JMU faces fourth-ranked Penn State Sunday at 1 p.m. with a berth in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals on the line. Earlier this season, PSU defeated JMU 12-9 back on March 8 at the PSU Lacrosse Field.