Dukes Fall to No. 5 Penn State

Thursday, August 30

Harrisonburg, Va.

8:00 p.m.

James Madison University

1-4

Penn State

3-1

Penn State

James Madison

8/30/2018 11:13:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - No. 5 Penn State used two goals just after halftime to put things out of reach on Thursday evening, as James Madison dropped a 3-0 decision to the Nittany Lions in non-conference women's soccer action at Sentara Park.

After an hour-long weather delay prior to the match, the Dukes (1-4) held off the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions (3-1) for nearly 30 minutes before Penn State added two more goals right after the break. In all, Penn State outshot JMU by a 12-4 margin, though the Dukes held the Nittany Lions to just six shots on goal.

Junior Hannah McShea tallied three saves on the evening for JMU.

HOW THEY SCORED
Penn State
26' | Kristin Schnurr opened things just before the half-hour mark, burying a one-touch shot from close range after Kerry Abello pushed the ball up the left side and fired a low cross to the six-yard line.
48' | Abello doubled Penn State's lead immediately after halftime, collecting a short pass from Charlotte Williams and firing a shot across frame from 18 yards that drilled the right post and caromed into the net.
50' | Emily Ogle closed the scoring, putting away a penalty kick less than two minutes later after Penn State was awarded a foul deep in the box.

QUOTING COACH WALTERS
"This was a productive match for our team. We played one of the best teams in the country and we faced them straight up. We looked at this as a no-lose situation for us: what we would gain in experience will outweigh the result. That was true tonight, as we were able to see a lot our roster against a high-quality opponent."

"Don't get me wrong, we want to compete and win matches, but our target is still in sight. The girls will get the weekend off to reset and we'll move on to George Mason next Thursday. I'm excited about what we are building and the buy-in from the team. I know they can't wait to get back on the field."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will have a full week off before resuming their 2018 campaign with a match at George Mason on Thursday, Sept. 7. Kickoff is scheduled at 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Va. The Patriots are 2-2 this season after a win over Old Dominion on Thursday and will face East Carolina on Sunday before taking on JMU.