Gawkins, Dukes Pick Up 3-1 Win Over Villanova

Thursday, August 24

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

2-1

Villanova

1-1

Villanova

James Madison

8/24/2017 11:09:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score @JMUWSoccer JMUWS on Instagram Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Senior Colleen Gawkins scored twice in the opening half and James Madison held Villanova to just four shots on Thursday evening, as the Dukes picked up a 3-1 victory in non-conference women's soccer action at Sentara Park. JMU improved to 2-1 on the year, while Villanova fell to 1-1.

The Dukes' defense was stout throughout, with the Wildcats' goal marking their only shot on goal, allowing JMU to come back from a 1-0 deficit with the help of Gawkins' career evening and a second-half tally from sophomore Lizzy Lazzaro.

HOW THEY SCORED
Villanova
31' | The Wildcats opened the scoring off a corner kick, playing the set piece back to the right wing and allowing Jasmine Ruiz to fire a low shot through traffic that tucked itself just inside the left post off a deflection.
JMU
33' | Gawkins levelled things just minutes later, taking advantage of a parried save on a long shot from sophomore Haley Crawford and pouncing to tuck the rebound home from short range.
38' | Less than six minutes later, Gawkins put the Dukes ahead on a second hustle play. Villanova's goalkeeper called a defender off for a clearance as Gawkins snuck in and got in front of the kick, deflecting the ball straight back and leaving herself and empty-net tap-in to put JMU up, 2-1.
58' | Lazzaro put things out of reach from 50 yards out just before the hour mark, blasting a trademark free kick from just inside the midfield stripe that found the gap between the crossbar and the keeper's fingertips to double JMU's advantage to 3-1.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

QUICK LOOK: Check out how Colleen Gawkins (???????) and Lizzy Lazzaro (????) found the net for the Dukes in tonight's win! pic.twitter.com/I51QCM56yS
— JMU Women's Soccer (@JMUWSoccer) August 25, 2017

MATCH NOTES
-With the Dukes' smothering defense, sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Miller did not need to record a save in the contest. The four shots allowed was the lowest for a JMU defense since yielding three in a 5-0 win over Seton Hall on Aug. 23, 2015.
-Gawkins' brace makes her the seventh different scorer for the Dukes this season, joining Crawford and Lazzaro for the team lead with two goals.
-Through three matches, the Dukes are the only Colonial Athletic Association team to have scored 10 goals, besting second-place William & Mary by two.
-JMU's 10 goals in its first three outings is the most for the program since the 1995 campaign. The Dukes scored 11 in their opening three matches that season, buoyed by a 7-0 trouncing of Radford in the season's second contest.
-Thursday's match marked the Head Coach David Lombardo's 699th career women's soccer match, including 578 in 28 years at JMU (330-213-35) and an additional 121 (78-35-8) across seven seasons at Keene State.

QUOTING COACH LOMBARDO
"This team played a gritty game tonight. It took conceding a goal as a wake-up call, but they responded well and it was great to see Colleen Gawkins have a breakout game. Last week against Boston College, we were up 3-1 at the end of the night and lost it in overtime. We learned a lot from that and did a great job of closing out the game."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will close out their four-match homestand on Sunday evening, when they welcome in-state rival Richmond to Sentara Park for a 7 p.m. contest. The Spiders are 0-1 this season after having their season-opener against Longwood cancelled and falling 5-1 to Iowa last Sunday.

Live audio coverage of Sunday's bout will be available on MadiZone HD SportsNet presented by the JMU Alumni Association.