April 21, 2024
Andrew McNeish, Journalist
mcneisae@dukes.jmu.edu
Harrisonburg, VA. – The Dukes, JMU Women’s Lacrosse, won their 37th consecutive home game against an in-conference opponent. The Dukes soundly beat the Vanderbilt Commodores by a score of 17-8, and are now 11-4 overall and 3-1 in their conference.
Early on, the Dukes set the tone of the game. After winning the face-off, JMU quickly turned the ball over. But the Commodores were unable to capitalize on their possession. After Vandy missed the first shot of the game, JMU took over. The Dukes missed their first try, but moments later passed from behind the net, fired another shot, and took the lead less than 2 minutes into the action.
With about 10 minutes to go in the first quarter, Vanderbilt tied the game. Seconds later, JMU recaptured the lead and would never look back. Three Dukes impressively had hat tricks, with 4 goals by JMU’s record career goal scorer, senior attacker Isabella Peterson, 3 from sophomore attacker Maddie Epke, and 3 from graduate student attacker Kacey Knobloch. Senior attacker Katelyn Morgan scored 2 goals along with 6 assists.
For Vanderbilt’s Commodores, Ella Smith had a dominant game, with 1 goal, 3 assists, and 2 forced turnovers. Their goalkeeper, Paige Gunning, also had an impressive number of saves despite letting up 17 goals on a barrage of shots.
The Dukes look to finish off the season strong with a win against ODU’s Monarchs in Norfolk, Va. Their final game of the regular season is on April 27; after that they will head to the American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament held in Nashville, TN.
About the Dukes:
JMU’s Dukes team is an NCAA Division I college lacrosse team, which is a part of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Their home games are played at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia. On May 2, they will compete in the AAC semifinals in Nashville, TN, and if they win, they will play in the championship game on May 4 at the same stadium. The Dukes aspire to be the National Champs again for the first time since 2018.