MOBILE, Ala. – James Madison’s Ginny Lackey scored in the seventh minute and the Dukes made the goal stand to defeat Old Dominion University Women’s Soccer 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals at South Alabama.
“To lose is never easy and of course at this stage in the season when it’s all or nothing it’s even tougher. We played hard tonight and competed but just didn’t really get to play our way – part of that needs to be credited to JMU,” ODU Head Coach Angie Hind said. “When we get a little time, I’m sure we will look back on this season with pride as we displayed some great stuff at times and had another 10+ win season but right now we are all disappointed as we have become a little used to more.”
Lackey’s goal came off a pass from Sophia Verrecchia as Lackey was able to put her shot past Emily Bredek to the bottom right of the net in the seventh minute to give JMU (11-3-5) a 1-0 lead.
ODU (10-6-4) had a chance to tie the game early in the second half when a shot by Andrea Balcazar Algarin was just knocked away by JMU keeper Sofia DeCerb.
The Monarchs kept the pressure on but a shot by Yuliia Khrystiuk with seven minutes remanining was also saved by DeCerb.
Both Bredek and DeCerb recorded six saves in goal. The Dukes outshot the Monarchs 12-10, while ODU held a 7-6 edge in corner kicks.
The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed to Thursday due to weather and poor field conditions. The match today was originally scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama. The game was delayed due to poor field conditions until 8 p.m. and moved to The Cage, the home of the South Alabama women's soccer team in Mobile.
The Monarchs had won three-straight conference championships, including two-straight in their first two years in the Sun Belt. Ashlynn Kuhla was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year this season while Bredek earned Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Rhea Kijowski and Andrea Balcazar Algarin earned second-team all-conference honors while Bredek and Kuhla earned first-team accolades.
“I am proud of the group and told them all that tonight. They are an amazing group of young women,” Hind said.