Dukes Shut Down Tribe in 14-4 CAA Road Victory

Wednesday, April 14

Williamsburg, Va.

2:30 p.m.

James Madison University

6-4, 1-1

William & Mary

3-7, 0-2

James Madison

William & Mary

4/14/2021 5:48:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – James Madison rattled off 10 straight goals and held William & Mary scoreless for a span of over 36 minutes en route to a 14-4 Colonial Athletic Association women's lacrosse victory Wednesday afternoon at Busch Field.

The Dukes improved to 6-4 on the year and 1-1 in CAA play, while the Tribe fell to 3-7 and 0-2. It was also JMU's 13th consecutive victory versus William & Mary.

Nine different JMU players scored goals, led by Katelyn Morgan, who recorded three goals and two assists, to go with four ground balls. Making her return from injury, Katie Checkosky provided a spark on the attack, scoring a goal with four assists, tying her career highs in both helpers and points.

Three others scored twice in Charlotte Haggerty, Rachel Matey and Taylor Marchetti. Matey also led all players with nine hustle stats, contributing four draw controls and four ground balls. Isabella Peterson and Emma Greenhill added a goal and two assists each.

Defensively, Molly Dougherty was stellar between the pipes, making 13 saves with a .765 save percentage, as she surpassed 400 career saves (409). She also had three ground balls. In addition to Matey's solid play all over the field, Lizzy Fox had two caused turnovers, two draws and three ground balls. Kacey Knobloch caused a pair of turnovers and collected four ground balls to go with her goal, and Mairead Durkin tallied two caused turnovers and two ground balls.

William & Mary took an early 3-2 lead less than nine minutes in before the Dukes completely took over the tempo. The Dukes answered with seven straight goals over the final 20:30 of the first half to lead 9-3 at the break. The momentum continued into the second, as the Dukes piled on three more to lead 12-3 with 17:40 left. The Tribe ended a drought of 36:36 in the middle of the second but managed just one goal in the final 51-and-a-half minutes.

The Tribe had no player with more than a goal, but had a bright spot in Elsa Rall, who made 15 saves with a .517 save percentage.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

JMU dominated the shots department by a 42-27 margin, including 29-17 in shots on goal.
The Dukes held leads in draw controls (13-7) and ground balls (29-24), while the Tribe had the edge in caused turnovers (12-9).
JMU had one fewer turnover than W&M (17-18).
The Dukes were solid defensively on the 8-meter, holding W&M to 0-of-6 shooting on free-position shots.
Katie Checkosky moved into JMU's all-time top 20 in the assist department, as she sits in a tie for 17th place with 47 helpers.
Emma Johnson had one caused turnover to move into a tie for second all-time at JMU with 110. She matched Ashlee Dardine (2002-05) and is nine off the lead mark, set by current assistant Haley Warden (2015-18).
Brittany Bill recorded her first career goal in the second half, and Emma Greenhill dished out her first two career assists.

QUOTING SHELLEY KLAES
"It's been a challenging year for JMU. The team really responded today, I though Rachel Matey played off the hook for us defensively. The draw controls today, it felt like we were in control, and it gave us a lot of momentum on the attacking end. We took more shots in the first half than we got in the entire Hofstra game. We tried to go with people today who could make the in-game adjustments. Molly [Dougherty] seemed to really be enjoying herself playing on the crease with Mairead [Durkin] and Rachel. She felt supported and when the team focuses on good solid team play, this team is really capable of great things."

UP NEXT
JMU returns home to open a three-game homestand to conclude the regular season, as it hosts #15 Towson on Sunday, April 18 at 2 p.m. It will be streamed live on Lax Sports Network.