No. 2 Dukes Remain Undefeated, Defeat Furman 21-9

Saturday, March 2

Greenville, S.C.

11:00 a.m.

James Madison University

6-0

Furman

1-4

James Madison

Furman

3/2/2024 2:40:00 PM | Lacrosse

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 2 James Madison posted its third double-digit win of the season and cleared its bench in a 21-9 victory over Furman in Greenville, S.C. on Saturday afternoon.

The Dukes (6-0) saw 12 different goal scorers and achieved their third consecutive outing with 20 or more goals in the matchup with the Paladins (1-4).

Attackers Isabella Peterson and Katelyn Morgan led the charge for the Dukes' offense, with Peterson scoring five goals and Morgan tallying three goals and two assists. Attacker Maddie Epke added two goals and two assists while Kacey Knobloch found the back of the net twice and notched an assist. Midfielder Maggie Clark scored two goals for JMU, and seven different Dukes all had one goal each.

JMU's defense was led by defenders Nicholle Marshall and Lizzy Pirisino who secured four ground balls and caused a turnover and four caused turnovers, respectively. Peterson secured one ground ball and caused two turnovers while defender Ava Bleckley, midfielder Josie Pell and Epke all recorded a ground ball and a caused turnover each. Midfielder Taylor Marchetti added three ground balls for the Dukes and defenders Alex Pirisino and Olivia Rongo and midfielder Brianna Mennella all secured two each.

All three of the Dukes' goalkeepers saw time in the cage on Saturday. Caitlin Boden made three saves in her 30 minutes of play, Adanya Moyer made one in the 15 minutes she was in the cage, and freshman Emily Evans saw her first career action in the matchup as she played all 15 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Furman's offense was led by attacker Paige Harman as she scored twice and added three assists. Attacker Anna Roser and midfielder Hannah Dintino added two goals each for the Paladins, while Sophie Shaw, Mia Falco and Audrey Smith each notched one.

The Paladin's defense was led by goalkeeper Lily Rathbun who secured eight ground balls and caused two turnovers. Defender Lilly Dyer recorded two ground balls and a caused turnover while three different Paladins added two ground balls each. Dintino also contributed with two caused turnovers.

James Madison dominated the draw circle by a 23-10 margin. Epke led the Dukes with 11 draw controls, Peterson recorded seven, Bleckley secured three and Marchetti and Lizzy Pirisino each tallied one. The Paladins were led in the circle by Katelyn Sousa with four draw controls.

The Dukes outshot the Paladins by a 43-19 margin and caused 11 turnovers in comparison to the Paladins' six.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – JMU 4, Furman 2
Roser opened the scoring for Furman, followed by a 4-0 run from James Madison with four goals from four different Dukes. Harman notched the second goal for the Paladins in the final minute of the frame.

Second Quarter – JMU 10, Furman 4
JMU went on a 4-0 run to start the quarter, again with four different Dukes scoring each goal. The run was stopped by a Furman goal from Dintino followed by another JMU goal from Epke. Falco netted one for the Paladins and Isabella Peterson quickly responded with her second goal of the day to close out the first half.

Third Quarter – JMU 15, Furman 7
Morgan scored a man-up goal for JMU 30 seconds into the frame and Mennella notched a free-position goal to build JMU's lead coming out of the break. Shaw scored for Furman followed by two goals for the Dukes, one from Isabella Peterson and the other from Marchetti. Harman notched a man-up goal for the Paladins followed by a JMU free-position goal from Clark and Furman free-position goal by Smith.

Fourth Quarter – JMU 21, Furman 9
Isabella Peterson scored twice in the first three minutes of the final frame with Dintino notching a Furman goal in between. Roser found the back of the net on a free-position shot for the Paladins at the 8:44 mark, their last score of the matchup. JMU went on a 4-0 run to finish the game, including a man-up goal from Jordan Peterson and goals from Lauren Savage, Kaitlyn Carney and Geneva Mattis.

GAME NOTES

James Madison now leads Furman 1-0 in the all-time series.
Epke secured 11 draw controls in the matchup, moving her to 11th in all-time draw controls in JMU history (127).
Marshall secured a career-high four ground balls in Saturday's outing. Her previous career high was three which she achieved six times.
Isabella Peterson made a season-high two caused turnovers and 10 shots while tying her season-high seven draw controls and seven shots on goal.
Marchetti tied her career-high three ground balls, which she previously achieved against Liberty on March 8, 2023.
Lizzy Pirisino secured the first draw control of her career and tied her career-high four caused turnovers.
Savage notched her first goal and point of the season, tying her career-high one goal and point against East Carolina on April 29, 2023.
Geneva Mattis also scored her first goal and tallied her first point of the season, the third time in her career she has scored a goal.
Carney scored her first goal and recorded her first assist of her career in today's outing, resulting in a career-high two points for the freshman.
Jordan Peterson recorded the first goal of her career and tied her career-high one point, two shots and one shot on goal.
Rongo tied her career-high two ground balls in Saturday's outing.
Mennella secured a career-high two ground balls and tied her career-high one free-position goal. This was the third time in her career in which she found the back of the net on a free-position goal.

UP NEXT
No. 2 James Madison (6-0) will stay on the road when it heads to College Park, Md. to take on No. 9 Maryland (3-1) on Sunday, March 10 at 11 a.m. The matchup will be streamed on Big Ten Network Plus.