April 15, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. - After a close first half, James Madison scored seven of the first nine goals in the second half to take control of the game and spoil Senior Day for the Old Dominion University women's lacrosse team at the Powhatan Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon with a 12-8 win.
Old Dominion's nine senior players were honored before the game and former head coach Sue Stahl, who retired last September after coaching ODU for 21 seasons, was honored at halftime.
Six of ODU's eight goals came from the class of 2012 who pushed league-leading JMU at times on Sunday, but could not rally from a second half deficit that reached six goals at one point as the Lady Monarchs dropped their fourth straight game in their home finale.
James Madison (9-5, 5-0) struck just 30 seconds into the game on Sunday as Ariel Lane put the Dukes in front, 1-0. Senior defender Hannah McBee scored just her second career goal then to tie the game up at 1-1 on a free position attempt. JMU would plate two more goals when Ashley Kimener and Monica Zabel each scored for the Dukes. Sophomore midfielder Emily Austerberry cut the deficit to one goal on a great feed from senior midfielder Rebecca Hartrum with 10 minutes to play in the first half but JMU bumped the lead back up on a goal from Kaci Starkloff. Hartrum was able to close the gap to 4-3 with 2:44 to play before half on a feed from senior midfielder Lisa Bernardini to keep the Lady Monarchs close at the break.
The two teams quickly traded goals coming out of the half as Kimener scored her second of the game for JMU while Bernardini responded with her first of the contest and scored for the 14th time in 15 games this season for ODU. The Dukes then seized control scoring seven of eight goals over a span of nearly 20 minutes as Amy Roguski scored three consecutive goals for the Dukes at one point. Sophomore midfielder Jordynn Collins scored the lone goal for ODU in that span on a feed from Bernardini. Senior attacker Mary Bermingham scored for the sixth time this season with 3:56 to play with a Hartrum assist and Hartrum then scored just 45 seconds later but JMU would maintain possession and score again to hold off Old Dominion (4-11, 1-4).
ODU picked up more shots (27-24) and groundballs (15-13) in the game but JMU dominated possession of draw controls by an 18-4 margin. Bernardini and Hartrum each had a pair of goals to lead the ODU offense and Bernardini added three assists. Redshirt senior goalie Sarah Geary racked up nine saves and collected seven groundballs.
Roguski led the way for JMU with four second half goals while Zabel added two goals and two assists. Schylar Healy racked up 13 saves and two groundballs on the afternoon in goal for the Dukes.
Old Dominion wraps up the regular season on the road next weekend when they travel to Hofstra for a 4 p.m. first draw on Friday in Hempstead, N.Y. and then on Sunday at Drexel with first draw at 2 p.m. in Philadelphia. Live stats will live stats will be available for both contests and updates can also be found on Twitter at @ODULacrosse.