Hot Start Sends JMU Past #15 Towson, 14-12

Sunday, April 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

7-4

Towson

8-4

Towson

James Madison

4/18/2021 5:59:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison used a quick string of goals early to set the tone, and led by as many as nine en route to a 14-12 lacrosse victory against #15 Towson on Sunday afternoon at Sentara Park.

The Dukes won their second straight, improving to 7-4 on the year, while Tigers dropped to 8-4. It was JMU's fifth straight win against Towson, as it moved to 33-13 in the all-time series.

Eight different JMU players scored goals, led by Kacey Knobloch, who fired a career-high four goals with one assist. Isabella Peterson notched a hat trick while winning five draw controls, and Charlotte Haggerty added a pair of tallies.

Lizzy Fox was stellar all over the field, as she scored one goal and two assists while also producing 12 hustle stats. She matched her career high with five caused turnovers and set a new career high with five ground balls to go with a pair of draw controls.

Other defensive standouts included Emma Johnson, who contributed three caused turnovers and two ground balls, and Mairead Durkin, who caused a pair of Towson turnovers. Molly Dougherty earned the win between the pipes with 11 saves, including eight in the second half. Rachel Matey was clutch in the circle, winning six draw controls.

Towson was paced by Blair Pearre, who scored four goals with two caused turnovers, five ground balls and five draw controls. Kaitlin Thornton also scored four goals, and Lindsey Marshall added two goals with two assists.

JMU opened the game red hot offensively, scoring the game's first five goals in the opening 7+ minutes. After the teams traded goals for the next 10 minutes, JMU ended the half with four straight to lead 11-3 at the break.

The Dukes extended the lead to nine, at 12-3, early in the second half before the Tigers came roaring back, tallying seven of the next eight to make it a 13-10 game with 5:27 to play. Knobloch answered with her fourth goal of the day, making it 14-10 with 3:37 to play, and Towson closed the game with a pair of late tallies for the final margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

JMU dominated shots in the first half and Towson flipped the script in the second half, as the teams tied in that department 29-29 (Towson 23-22 SOG).
JMU controlled the circle for most of the afternoon, winning draw controls by an 18-10 margin.
JMU had an 11-9 lead in caused turnovers, while Towson had a 17-15 edge in ground balls.
Turnovers were nearly even, as Towson had 14 turnovers, to JMU's 16.
Both teams were excellent in the midfield, as Towson was 21-of-22 on clears and JMU was 20-of-21.
Towson found much of its scoring on the 8-meter, in which it went 5-of-13, while JMU cashed in on 2-of-4 free-position shots.

CAREER WATCH

With Emma Johnson's three caused turnovers, she moved into sole possession of second place all-time at JMU with 113 for her career. She is just six shy of tying Haley Warden (2015-18), who holds the record at 119.
Katie Checkosky added two more assists in Sunday's win, moving into a tie for 15th at JMU with 49 for her career.
Molly Dougherty had another double-digit saves outing, as her 11 moved her to 420, good for eighth place at JMU.

QUOTING SHELLEY KLAES
"JMU has so much momentum on our side right now. This team is firing on all cylinders and it's hungry. I'm excited we get strong conference play with the team we have right now. I thought we did an incredible job slowing Towson down in transition and forcing them into settled play in the first half. We shared the ball so well on the attacking end, we made our shots look easy. There was a little lack of discipline in the second half when we got tired. Our attack was not recognizing time and score and taking the first feed they saw. Towson was hungry and attacking the game. Credit to them for not giving up, but I'm really proud of this team's defensive effort holding a really strong team to three goals in the first half."

UP NEXT
JMU is back home to face William & Mary on Friday, April 23. The opening draw is set for 5 p.m. at Sentara Park and will be streamed on JMU Sports View.