Women's Soccer Smothers Flames in 1-0 Victory

Wednesday, September 12

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

Liberty

1-7

Liberty

James Madison

9/12/2018 11:11:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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HARRISONBURG, Va. - The James Madison women's soccer team clamped down on defense on Wednesday evening, holding Liberty to just one errant shot on its way to a dominant 1-0 victory in non-conference women's soccer action at Sentara Park.

Sophomore forward Ginger Deel provided all the offense the Dukes (2-6) would need on the evening, heading home her team-high third goal of the year as JMU held the Flames (1-7) without a shot on goal. In all, the Dukes outshot Liberty by a 14-1 margin, including a 9-0 gap in the opening half, putting six shots on goal.

HOW THEY SCORED
59' | Deel provided the gamewinner just before the hour mark. Junior Haley Crawford pushed a dribble through several defenders before leading freshman Morgan Sherman to the left corner with a pass. Sherman lifted a cross to the six-yard line that Deel elevated to power home with a header that provided the final margin.

QUOTING COACH WALTERS
"I'm very excited to see the girls' hard work pay off tonight; we executed our game plan today for 90 minutes. As a coach, you look at things to improve and we need to be a little sharper in the final third. That said, I loved getting the shutout tonight and holding them to one shot. Our pressure tonight kept Liberty at bay."

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOK
With her assist on the gamewinner, the 20th of her career, junior Haley Crawford climbed into the program's career top 10, tying with Teri Joyce (1999-2002) at 20, two behind Kim Germain (2005-08) in ninth.

SUFFOCATING DEFENSE
The single shot that the Dukes gave up on Wednesday was the fewest JMU has given up in at least 10 years and the effort marked the first time since a 5-0 win over Seton Hall on Aug. 23, 2015, in which the Dukes did not yield a shot on goal.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will hit the road for a pair of matches next week, starting with a 3 p.m. bout at George Washington on Sunday, Sept. 16. Heading into that match, the Colonials are 4-2-1 after playing Maryland to a scoreless draw this past Sunday.