Fieldsend’s First Career Brace Advances Dukes to Sun Belt Semifinals

Wednesday, November 1

Foley, Ala.

7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

8-3-8, 4-1-5

App State

9-6-3, 6-2-2

James Madison

App State

Fieldsend’s First Career Brace Advances Dukes to Sun Belt Semifinals

11/2/2023 1:12:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

FOLEY, Ala. – James Madison women's soccer freshman Jeanette Fieldsend recorded her first career brace to help the Dukes advance past App State, 2-1, in double overtime on Wednesday evening at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex to head to the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals.

The Dukes improved to 8-3-8 while the Mountaineers dropped to 9-6-3.

JMU outshot App State 21-8 with redshirt senior Suwaibatu Mohammed and junior Amanda Attanasi leading the attack with four shots each. Redshirt senior Alexandra Blom made four saves in goal.

How It Happened

The Dukes had a flurry of chances within the opening five minutes, as Mohammed had her shot blocked in the fourth minute before Attanasi hit the crossbar 19 seconds later.
Mohammed got off a pair of shots split between seven seconds in the 10^th minute but had them both blocked.
App State had few chances in the first half but made the most out of them by putting four on goal with the fifth missing wide of the goal be mere inches.
JMU took the lead in the 63^rd minute after redshirt senior Brittany Munson first took a shot that was saved by Kerry Eagleston in goal for App State. The ball rebounded straight to Fieldsend who tapped it in to break the scoreless tie.
The offense of the Mountaineers equalized in the 88^th minute, much like the regular season match. The goal for App State was its lone shot of the second half.
In the first overtime period, the Dukes forced a corner kick in the 97^th minute. The corner kick was sent in the box where redshirt senior Ellie Johnson gathered possession and sent it across to a running Fieldsend who sent it into the back of the net for the lead.
App State had a pair of chances in the second overtime period to equalize again, but the JMU backline held strong.

Quick Facts

JMU put 11 of its 21 shots on goal with eight different Dukes registering a shot on goal.
The Dukes advanced to their fifth straight conference semifinals, and 16^th of the last 17 conference tournaments.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
"It felt like the girls weren't going to let what happened in the regular season happen again and the word that comes to mind for how they played is gritty. It's fantastic for a freshman to step up like Jeanette did and score both goals in the game to put us through and I felt like we deserved to move on. I thought we created a lot of attacking opportunities and I wish we would've scored in the first half, but ultimately it's survive and advance and now my mind immediately goes to South Alabama."

Up Next
The Dukes will take on top-seeded South Alabama on Friday, Nov. 3 in the Sun Belt Semifinals at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex at 8 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. CT.