Women’s Soccer Stands Alone atop the Sun Belt After Win at Texas State

Thursday, October 6

San Marcos, Texas

8 p.m.

James Madison University

8-2-3, 4-0-1

Texas State

9-2-2, 3-1-1

Team	1	2	Final F
James Madison	1	2	3
Texas St.	0	1	1

Women’s Soccer Stands Alone atop the Sun Belt After Win at Texas State

10/6/2022 11:07:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – A trio of goals allowed James Madison to move into sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference, taking down Texas State, 3-1, in women's soccer action on Thursday night at the Bobcats Soccer Complex.

The Dukes extended their unbeaten streak to five matches and moved to 8-2-3, 4-0-1 SBC, while the Bobcats had their four-match unbeaten streak snapped and droppped to 9-2-2, 3-1-1 SBC.

Senior Lidia Nduka, redshirt junior Suwaibatu Mohammed and sophomore Amanda Attanasi all scored for the Dukes, while redshirt sophomore Lexi Vanderlinden assisted on all three goals and became the 14^th Duke in program history to record three assists in a match. Redshirt junior Alexandra Blom made five saves in goal and helped the Dukes reset the program record for consecutive minutes without allowing a goal at 475:31.

How It Happened

Attanasi had the offense clicking in the first half, taking four out of JMU's first five shots. The Washington Township, N.J. native finished the match with a team and career-high six shots with four on goal.
Vanderlinden drove the ball down the right side of the box in the 37^th minute, firing a shot that was saved but deflected straight to Nduka who gathered herself and fired in her fifth goal of the season.
The Bobcats mustered only three shots in the first half, not getting a shot on goal until the 41^st minute that Blom saved.
After a quiet opening nine minutes, the teams combined for four consecutive shots between the 55^th and 58^th minutes. Mohammed capped off the four shots with her second goal of the year, receiving a pass from sophomore Sophia Verrecchia that she took one touch and fired into the upper right corner of the net.
Texas State had a great opportunity to get a goal back in the 71^st minute, as Wimberly Wright fired a shot inside the six-foot box that Blom saved. The shot rebounded nearby to Mya Ulloa who took her try at netting a goal, but Blom was once again in front of the shot.
Moments later in the 76^th minute, Attanasi scored her team leading sixth goal of the season to give the Dukes a dominating 3-0 lead.
The Bobcats were able to get a goal back a little over three minutes later, after a foul inside the 18-foot box set up a penalty kick. Blom guessed correctly, but a perfect strike by Madi Gross made it just by the goalkeeper's gloves to make it a 3-1 match.
In the 81^st minute, the Bobcats once again had a great opportunity as they were able to pull Blom out of the net to get an open look on goal. Redshirt junior Brittany Munson had other plans, saving the shot and maintaining the JMU two-goal lead.

Game Notes

The last Duke to record three assists in a match was Iris Rabot against Delaware on Nov. 3, 2019 in that year's CAA semifinals. The last to accomplish the feat in the regular season was Haley Crawford on Oct. 17, 2019 against Towson.
The Dukes improve to 5-1-1 in away matches and 6-0 when leading at halftime.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
"This team is so resilient and tough. We had a flight cancelled and scrambled to get to San Marcos, but this team didn't let that take away from their performance. Great to see three quality goals from three different forwards tonight along with some fantastic saves. So proud of the girls and staff tonight!"

Up Next
The Dukes welcome the defending Sun Belt champion and winners of eight of the last nine titles, South Alabama, to Sentara Park on Sunday, Oct. 9. The match is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.