Yesterday afternoon the sixteenth-ranked James Madison University Dukes upset the third-ranked Georgetown women’s lacrosse team in an overtime thriller.
Protecting their house, James Madison edged the Hoyas on their home turf. Although the Hoyas lead 9-5 in the history of the series, they are only 3-3 at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.
“It’s always hard to go on the road, every one of our losses this year has been on the road,” junior attacker Sara Zorzi said.
The Hoyas jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from junior attacker Coco Stanwick, last week’s Big East Offensive Player of the Week, and senior midfielder Paige Andrews.
Lynlea Cronin and the Dukes rallied back, though, as the James Madison junior midfielder scored two unassisted goals. Her second goal tied the game with just five seconds left before halftime. Not missing a beat after the break, Cronin gave James Madison a 3-2 lead three minutes into the second half.
The Hoyas then came back to life to regain the lead with goals from freshman midfielder Jordan Trautman and Stanwick, her second of the afternoon. Again, Cronin would not be denied as she drew a foul, which allowed a free position goal that tied the game 4-4 at the 18 minute mark.
A disciplined Georgetown offensive attack that included a four-minute possession culminated with junior Schuyler Sutton setting up Andrews for her second goal of the contest. The Hoyas extended their lead to 6-4 with another long possession that finished with a third Stanwick goal assisted by Zorzi.
However, the Dukes’ resilient Cronin simply would not accept defeat as she scored her fifth goal on the afternoon and narrowed the Georgetown lead to one with 6:25 remaining in the game. James Madison sophomore midfielder Julie Stone then tied the game at 6-6 with just under five minutes to play.
Both the Dukes and the Hoyas tightened up their defense for the final minutes in order to force overtime. Freshman midfielder Kim Griffin lifted the Dukes past the Hoyas with her game-winning shot off a pass from senior attacker Brooke McKenzie. The goal gave James Madison the lead with 13 seconds remaining in the first three-minute session of overtime. The Dukes held onto the lead in the second session to secure the victory.
In the end, the turnover margin was too much for the Hoyas to overcome as they lost the turnover battle to the Dukes 20 to 10.
“A team that commits 20 turnovers shouldn’t win,” Zorzi said. “We were on our heels a little bit and they were hungrier than we were. We are a better team. We just didn’t come out to play.”
The Dukes improved to 12-4 while Georgetown fell to 11-3 overall. The Hoyas square off against No. 20 Loyola in their final regular season home game this Saturday at the Multi-Sport Facility at 1 p.m.
