Dukes Down Ohio Behind Second Half Surge

Sunday, September 10

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

3-2-3, 0-0-0

Ohio

2-3-2, 0-0-0

Ohio

James Madison

9/10/2023 4:34:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – After both sides only took one shot each in the opening 45 minutes, James Madison women's soccer fired 14 shots in the second half with redshirt junior Lexi Vanderlinden connecting on a goal to down Ohio, 1-0, at Sentara Park on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action.

The Dukes completed their non-conference portion of the schedule with a 3-2-3 record, while the Bobcats fell to 2-3-2.

Five Dukes had multiple shot attempts, led by redshirt senior Suwaibatu Mohammed and juniors Amanda Attanasi and Shea Collins who all had three shots. Redshirt senior Alexandra Blom earned her third shutout of the season in goal.

How It Happened

Senior Alba Fernández Almagro fired a shot wide in the 12^th minute for JMU and Ohio's Scout Murray had her shot blocked in the 23^rd minute. Those were the only shots taken by the two sides in the first half.
The Dukes attack came out of the halftime break on a mission, taking four shots in the opening nine minutes with three placed on goal.
The opening stretch was capped off by Vanderlinden's first goal of the season, taking a pass from Attanasi and firing the ball into the top right corner of the goal from the far top corner of the box for a 1-0 lead.
JMU continued to pepper the OU backline, never going more than six minutes without a shot attempt until a nine minute and 30 second break beginning in the 71^st minute.
The Dukes had chances to add to their lead in the 57^th, 61^st, 70^th, 81^st and 90^th minutes.
Ohio's Celeste Sloma came away with seven saves for the Bobcats, including multiple that required diving or jumping stops to keep the Dukes from adding to their lead.

Quick Facts

The Dukes outshot the Bobcats 15-2 overall and did not allow Ohio to attempt a corner kick in the second half.
Alexandra Blom moved into sole possession of fourth place in program history after her 17^th career solo shutout.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
"I love the back-to-back shutouts to end conference play. Ohio set up well in the first half and I was pleased with the team's ability to apply our tactics in the second half. We left a few goals on the field and will look to clean that up as we enter conference play next week. In the end, we have grown through the non-conference portion and I'm excited to see us enter Sun Belt play."

Up Next
After ending the non-conference portion of the season with back-to-back shutouts, the Dukes will begin Sun Belt Conference play on Friday, Sept. 15 at Arkansas State for a 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT kickoff on ESPN+.