FOLEY, Ala. – James Madison women’s soccer drew ULM 0-0 and fought in extra time to take a 4-3 victory in penalty kicks and advance to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championship on Monday night at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex.

The Dukes moved to 10-3-5 (8-0-2 SBC) while ULM moved to 9-8-3 (3-5-2 SBC).

Freshman Ginny Lackey and senior Shea Collins paced the JMU offense with four shots each. Both squads had many opportunities in regulation to break the scoreless tie, but couldn’t put the ball into the net in the first 90 minutes. After two ten-minute overtime periods, the match went to PKs. Despite missing their first two attempts, the Dukes were able to net the next four to take the win.

Redshirt freshman Sofia DeCerb made her eighteenth start in goal, playing all 90 minutes and making two saves in regulation and one in the shootout. JMU outshot the Warhawks 16-6. It is the sixth straight match that JMU has held an opponent to under ten shots for the game.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
“I love this team! How can you not appreciate their ability to keep fighting. In tournament play it’s all about survive and advance! Happy to be thinking about playing in the semifinals on Wednesday.”

How it Happened
• JMU got attacking early, taking two shots on goal in the second minute and drawing a corner kick.
• DeCerb made her first save of the game, diving to parry the ball out of play in the 22nd minute.
• ULM’s only two other shots for the period were both blocked.
• DeCerb made another save in the 48th minute to keep the game scoreless.
• Lackey got a good shot that was denied on a team save in the 59th minute.
• JMU got one last shot on goal in regulation in the 88th minute from Lackey that was saved.
• JMU held ULM without a shot in both extra periods. Jordan Yang took a shot in the 92nd minute that hit the crossbar, while Lackey and Collins got shots off that went wide in the 95th and 96th minutes.
• In the 103rd minute, Amanda Attanasi and Sophia Verrecchia got off three shots in the box as JMU tried to find a golden goal, all saved by the Warhawk keeper.
• As the shootout began, DeCerb made a save on ULM’s first attempt, but JMU then missed its first two attempts.
• Down 1-0 after ULM missed their third attempt, Tali Rovner stepped up to net her PK and tie it up.
• After another ULM make, Verrecchia converted her PK to keep it tied at two.
• With ULM up 3-2, Ellie Farrell scored in JMU’s fifth attempt to tie it again at three.
• ULM’s next attempt ricocheted off the post. With the match up for grabs, Jamie Swartz put the ball in the upper left corner of the net, sending the Dukes to the semifinals with the victory.

Quick Facts
• The victory is just the second time in JMU history that a match went to PKs. The last time JMU encountered PKs was in the 2010 CAA semifinals against No. 3 George Mason, in which the Dukes drew 1-1 and then won 6-5 in PKs.
• Since 2004, the Dukes have now reached the semifinals round 16 times out of 17 conference tournaments qualified for.
• JMU and ULM’s only two meeting prior to tonight’s match both resulted in a draw. The victory is the first in the all-time series against the Warhawks for the Dukes

Up Next
JMU continues the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, and will face No. 4 seed Old Dominion on Wednesday, Nov. 6th from Foley, Alabama. Kickoff is slated for 8:00 p.m. ET.

— JMU Athletics —