Villanova Edges Dukes in Early Road Test

Wednesday, August 22

Villanova, Pa.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

1-2

Villanova

2-1

James Madison

Villanova

8/22/2018 7:27:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score @JMUWSoccer JMU WS on Instagram Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Junior Haley Crawford and freshman Abby Maltese each tallied a goal for the second straight game, but James Madison dropped a hard-fought, 3-2 decision at Villanova in non-conference women's soccer action on Wednesday afternoon.

The Dukes (1-2) trailed on stat sheet, as Villanova (2-1) took its first lead inside of five minutes and racked up a 17-5 lead in shots, but JMU battled back repeatedly, with Maltese tying things before halftime and Crawford cutting the deficit to one in the final five minutes.

Junior goalkeeper Hannah McShea kept the Dukes within striking distance, racking up seven saves on the afternoon and setting a new career high for the second consecutive match.

HOW THEY SCORED
JMU
35' | Maltese levelled the match just past the half-hour mark with her second goal in as many matches, tracking a free kick from junior Lizzy Lazzaro through traffic and nodding the equalizer inside the far post.
87' | Crawford pulled the Dukes back within one with 3:23 to play, willing home a 12-yard shot through contact to find the net for her second consecutive match and cut the lead to 3-2.
Villanova
5' | Allison Breed opened the scoring early, collecting a through ball from Niki Molina and burying the one-on-one chance with just 4:35 elapsed on the afternoon.
49' | Chloe O'Neill broke the deadlock just after halftime, collecting another assist from Molina and putting the Wildcats up 3-2 with a shot across frame.
84' | Ida DiClemente put away the eventual gamewinner deep into the match, as Villanova caught the Dukes with a counter-attack and O'Neill set DiClemente up to one-touch home a shot from the middle of the box.

QUOTING COACH WALTERS
"Villanova was better than us on the day, as we didn't quite bring our A-game, but I loved our fight this afternoon. We made adjustments and found our way back into the match--that kind of fight will be needed when we hit the road during a tough CAA schedule."

"This was a productive day for us because we learned some lessons and we got to see a lot of our bench come on and make an impact. The real value will come in the next few games as we look to not repeat our mistakes and grow every time we take the field."

"Hannah McShea continues to be our team MVP, as she was tremendous in goal again and really kept us in the match. It was also great to see Abby Maltese come in as a freshman and get a second goal. We'd love for her scoring streak to continue."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will return home this weekend, welcoming Saint Joseph's to Sentara Park at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks are 2-0 thus far in 2018 with a bout at Rutgers still to be played on Thursday evening. JMU has never faced Saint Joseph's in women's soccer.