#17 JMU Wins Thriller in Overtime, 9-8, Against #23 Virginia Tech

Wednesday, February 12

Harrisonburg, Va.

5 p.m.

James Madison University

1-1

Virginia Tech

1-1

Virginia Tech

James Madison

#17 JMU Wins Thriller in Overtime, 9-8, Against #23 Virginia Tech

2/12/2020 9:34:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score Watch Game-Winning Goal Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Senior Maddie McDaniel fired home the game-winning goal with 16 seconds remaining in overtime to lift #17 James Madison to a thrilling 9-8 women's lacrosse victory against #23 Virginia Tech on Wednesday night at Sentara Park.

The Dukes evened their record to 1-1, while the Hokies fell to 1-1. With the win, JMU remained unbeaten all-time against VT, improving to 18-0 in the series.

With the game tied at 8-8 and in overtime, the teams traded multiple possessions, but a turnover by Tech's Emma Crooks with 38 seconds left gave the ball back to JMU. Passes in transition had senior Logan Brennan at the left crease, where she dished a pass inside the 8 meter to McDaniel, leading to the game-winning shot.

It marked the second straight season McDaniel scored a game-winning, overtime goal, as she won with a double-overtime tally at Hofstra back on April 14, 2019 – also a 9-8 JMU win.

Freshman Isabella Peterson scored a game-high four goals in the win, and Brennan had a game-best five points off three goals and two assists.

The Dukes had several players active in the midfield and defensive third, led by sophomore Mairead Durkin, who tallied a game-high 10 hustle stats off three draw controls and career highs of three caused turnovers and four ground balls.

Sophomore Rachel Matey had four draw controls and three ground balls – both career highs – and seniors Emma Johnson and Kristen Russell both had three caused turnovers, which was a career best for Russell. Between the pipes, redshirt junior Molly Dougherty made six saves, including five in the second half. She allowed just two goals over the final 38:28.

Virginia Tech was paced by three goals from Kayla Frank. Paige Petty had two goals and an assist, while Taylor Caskey added a goal and two helpers. Leigh Lingo led all players with a career-best five caused turnovers to lead Tech's defense.

HOW IT HAPPENED

JMU jumped out to a 4-1 lead, with Brennan and Peterson each recording two goals over the opening 12:37.
The Hokies answered with a 5-1 run in the final 16:26 of the first to take a 6-5 halftime lead.
Tech led 7-6 until Brennan and sophomore Lizzy Fox scored back-to-back to give JMU an 8-7 advantage. VT closed regulation with a goal by Sarah Lubnow, forcing OT at 8-8.
In overtime, the teams combined for five turnovers before McDaniel found the back of the net for her first goal of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Virginia Tech held a 21-20 shots advantage but failed to register one shot in the overtime period, while JMU had two.
JMU held leads in draw controls (11-9) and caused turnovers (17-16), while each team had 19 ground balls. JMU won both draw controls in overtime.
The Dukes were 1-for-2 on free-position shots, while the Hokies went 0-for-3.
The rainy conditions and high pressure by both teams resulted in 48 combined turnovers, with each team giving possession away 24 times.
JMU was 21-of-25 on clears, and VT was 21-of-26.
McDaniel won a pair of draw controls to move into second place all-time at JMU with 166 career draws.
Johnson had her second straight game with three caused turnovers, as she became the sixth player in program history to tally at least 90 career caused turnovers (91).
Molly Dougherty surpassed 300 career saves, as she's the 11th goalkeeper to do so at JMU. She now stands at 305 career stops.
In the 18-game history between the teams, this was the second one-goal game, as JMU also won 9-8 in Blacksburg back on Feb. 27, 2013.

QUOTING SHELLEY KLAES-BAWCOME AND EMMA JOHNSON
"Credit Virginia Tech, they came ready to play today, but that was a huge gut check win for JMU. We're a team looking to find its confidence, looking to prove what its worth this year. We did not shoot well in the first half, and we did a great job of finding ourselves and doing what we had to do to win the game. That's all it takes." – Head Coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe

"In the end, we just stuck to our game plan. We knew if we stayed disciplined, things were going to go our way. We played two full overtime periods, the defense had to make some stops and the offense had to get the ball back, but we're resilient and it was a total team effort. You learn a lot from this first win, because it's overtime. If we play a full 60 minutes, we won't be in this position, but if any teams wants to come at us with overtime, we'll give them our full fight." – Senior defender Emma Johnson

UP NEXT
JMU hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Sparks, Md., for a neutral-site matchup against UConn (1-0). The opening draw is set for noon at Tierney Field.

Gallery: (2/12/2020) Dukes Beat Hokies in Overtime Showdown