Brace by Verrecchia Leads Dukes to Win Over Georgia State

Thursday, October 20

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

9-2-5, 5-0-3

Georgia State

7-4-5, 3-3-2

Georgia St.

James Madison

Brace by Verrecchia Leads Dukes to Win Over Georgia State

10/20/2022 10:25:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison sophomore Sophia Verrecchia recorded her second brace of the season to lead women's soccer to a 4-1 victory over Georgia State on Thursday night in Sun Belt Conference play at Sentara Park.

The Dukes improve to 9-2-5, 5-0-3 SBC while the Panthers fall to 7-4-5, 3-3-2 SBC.

Verrecchia, redshirt junior Suwaibatu Mohammed, redshirt sophomore Lexi Vanderlinden and sophomore Amanda Attanasi all had three shots on the night, as redshirt junior Alexandra Blom made three saves in goal.

How It Happened

The Panthers fired off a shot in the second minute of the match, but the pressure on the offensive side of the ball in the first half came from the Dukes.
The Dukes attempted four of their first five shots within about four minutes of each other.
Verrechia found the back of the net in the 23^rd minute after redshirt senior Ashby Larkin made a nice spin move around a defender and was able to shoot the ball to senior Lidia Nduka who found Verrecchia to give JMU a 1-0 lead.
It only took two minutes and 45 seconds later for James Madison to add another goal, as Vanderlinden scored her first goal of the season after a deflected cross landed right at her feet.
JMU outshot Georgia State 9-3 and had the only corner kicks in the first half.
In the 53^rd minute, Verrecchia netted her second goal when she was able to steal the ball in Georgia State's defending third and drove into the box with no one around before shooting her shot.
GSU had a chance in the 62^nd minute to get a goal back, but Elena Diaz's shot off a free kick that was just outside the top of the box ranged off the post and went out of bounds.
The Dukes increased their lead to four goals in the 80^th minute on Mohammed's third goal of the season. Redshirt sophomore Sammie Sipes shot a pass to Mohammed in the box who was able to get off a shot while falling down.
With 22 seconds remaining in the match, Georgia State made sure not to leave empty handed. Gracen Crosby found the back of the net with a shot the sailed into the top of the goal.

Game Notes

The four goals are the most JMU has scored on a conference opponent since netting six against Towson in 2019 while a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
The 16 shots by the Dukes are the most in a match all season and the most since taking 16 against Drexel last season.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
"That was a fun match to be part of. I though the team was ready to go from the opening whistle and were hungry to attack. I loved seeing them get the reward of all their hard work."

Up Next
The Dukes hit the road for one final time in the regular season, facing Georgia Southern on Sunday, Oct. 23 for a 1 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+. It will be a battle of the top two teams of the East Division, as after tonight JMU sits at 18 points and Georgia Southern at 17.