HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 5 James Madison lacrosse scored the final three goals and were lifted by a stout goalkeeping performance to win a back-and-forth battle 10-8 against No. 12 Virginia at Sentara Park on Wednesday.

JMU improved to 9-1 on the season while Virginia fell to 7-3.

Sophomore Savannah Derey scored three goals to lead JMU for her first career hat trick, while senior Tai Jankowski scored twice. Redshirt sophomore Maggie Clark provided clutch offensive heroics, scoring the game-winner with 4:33 left to play.

Redshirt senior Kat Buchanan repeatedly stood tall in net, making a career-high 12 saves on a .600 save percentage. Rachel Matey was active in the circle, gaining a season-high eight draw controls and added a caused turnover defensively.

For the Cavaliers, Ashlyn McGovern scored four times while Ashley Vernon made 11 saves in goal on a .523 percentage.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – James Madison 1, Virginia 0
Vernon made six saves while Buchanan stopped both of Virginia’s attempts on goal. Midfielder Lizzy Fox found fellow midfielder Taylor Marchetti for the quarter’s only goal.

Second Quarter – Virginia 3, James Madison 2
The Hoos scored three times in a row while holding JMU scoreless for the first 12:31 of the quarter. JMU controlled all five draws in the quarter but committed six turnovers.

Third Quarter – Virginia 6, James Madison 5
Goals by Jankowski and Isabella Peterson each tied the game, but Virginia struck back with a pair of goals in 53 seconds, each a woman up. Katelyn Morgan finished the scoring to cut the lead to one again.
Buchanan made four saves in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 10, Virginia 8
After the Hoos extended the lead to two at the 14:09 mark, Derey and Olivia Mattis netted goals to tie the game. Virginia re-took the lead less than a minute later before Jankowski, Clark and Derey scored the final three goals, with Clark’s proving to be the game winner. JMU held the Cavaliers scoreless in the final 9:58 to win the final period 5-2, as Buchanan stopped five more attempts on goal. Freshman Maddie Epke came up with three key draw controls late in the period.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• This is JMU’s sixth win in the series since 2010 and the Dukes have won four of the past six. Each of those six victories have come by five or fewer goals.
• Wednesday marked JMU’s first victory when trailing after three quarters since April 23, 2022.
• The Dukes won while leading for just 14:46 of the game.
• Buchanan made nine saves in the second half with a save percentage of .643.
• Matey helped the Dukes out-draw the Cavaliers 15-7 overall, the fewest draw controls in a game for Virginia since March 19, 2021.
• Derey became the fifth Duke to secure a hat trick this season.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will return to American Athletic Conference play with a visit to Temple on Saturday, March 25.

— JMU Athletics —