Dukes Clinch Share of CAA Title in 3-0 Romp Past Elon

Thursday, October 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

10-7, 7-1CAA

Elon

3-8-3, 1-6CAA

Elon

James Madison

10/18/2018 11:40:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison clinched at least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association women's soccer regular season title on Thursday night, using three different goalscorers to roll to a 3-0 win over Elon at Sentara Park.

The Dukes (10-7, 7-1 CAA), winners of nine of their last 10 matches, held Elon (3-8-3, 1-6 CAA) without a shot on goal, putting all but two of their own eight shots on frame as sophomore Ginger Deel, junior Haley Crawford and freshman Hannah Coulling all tallied goals in the romp.

With the win, combined with results elsewhere, the Dukes can do no worse than tie for first place in the CAA, needing just one point in their final match to clinch the outright regular-season championship and corresponding No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament.

Junior Hannah McShea did not need to record a save on the evening, but guided the JMU defense to its seventh shutout of the year, setting a new program record for shutouts by a junior.

HOW THEY SCORED
12' | Deel needed just 11:32 to provide the eventual game-winner, tucking home a first-touch goal from six yards out after sophomore Sophie Brause flicked on a long throw-in from freshman Ashby Larkin.
75' | Crawford doubled the Dukes' advantage late in the second half, latching onto a corner kick rebound, taking a touch and ripping a shot just inside the near post from 12 yards out for her league-leading eighth goal of the year.
79' | Coulling put the match well out of reach less than four minutes later, as junior Phoebe Dinga floated a corner kick to the far post and Coulling buried an emphatic header back inside the near post.

QUOTING COACH WALTERS
"We love this team. Day in and day out, they grind. This game had a playoff intensity and I'm very glad we came out on top. We made it an emphasis to be plugged in on set pieces and it paid off tonight, with all three goals coming on those sets. Now we'll focus on a surging Delaware team and doing our best to capture the CAA regular season title!"

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
Junior Haley Crawford picked up her 20th career goal on Thursday evening, moving her into a tie for 15th on JMU's career goals leaderboard, alongside Katie Hyland (2011-14). Her 62 career points are tied for 13th-most in JMU history with Carrie Proost (1990-94).

CAA STANDINGS
James Madison - 21 pts (7-1)
Northeastern - 18 pts (6-2)
Hofstra - 16 pts (5-2-1)
Charleston - 16 pts (5-2-1)
Drexel - 10 pts (3-4-1)
William & Mary - 10 pts (3-4-1)
Delaware - 9 pts (3-5)
UNCW - 6 pts (2-5)
Towson - 5 pts (1-5-2)
Elon - 3 pts (1-6)

UP NEXT
The Dukes will close out their regular season on Sunday, Oct. 21, when they welcome Delaware to Sentara Park for a 1 p.m. bout. Either a draw or victory will clinch JMU the top seed in next week's CAA Tournament.

On Thursday, the Blue Hens picked up a 2-0 home win over William & Mary to keep themselves in the hunt to qualify for the six-team CAA Tournament.

Prior to Sunday's match, the Dukes will honor their seven seniors--Brianne Beard, Brittany Borum, Stephanie Hendrie, Olivia Miller, Hailey Stein, Christine Tack and Carmen Thomas--with a brief ceremony prior to the match.