HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison women’s soccer used a trio of first-half goals and held on for a 3-2 win over Old Dominion to remain undefeated in Sun Belt Conference Play on Sunday night at Sentara Park.

The Dukes moved to 5-3-2 (3-0 conf.) while Old Dominion fell to 6-4-1 (1-0-1 conf.). Senior forward Amanda Attanasi paced the Dukes with one goal and one assist, while junior defender/forward Jamie Swartz netted the first goal of her career off an assist from Jordan Yang, her first of the season. Freshman forward Ginny Lackey scored for the fourth consecutive match, continuing the stellar start to her career.

Redshirt freshman Sofia DeCerb made her tenth start in goal, playing all 90 minutes and making three saves. The Dukes outshot the Monarchs 16-10.

Quoting Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
“ODU is a well-coached team and it was a battle like always. The games in the rivalry are so tight. This time we came out on top, and credit goes to the girls for solving their puzzle of spacing. A lot of great moments and one of my favorites was scoring on the corner kick. We’ve been hungry to score one of those.”

How it Happened
• The Dukes got off to a fast start offensively, ripping three shots in the first thirteen minutes.
• JMU drew a corner kick in the 16th minute, allowing Swartz to score off a header from Yang to put the Dukes up 1-0.
• Attanasi then beat the defender and netted her goal on a solo shot in the 22nd minute as JMU kept its offense firing on all cylinders.
• The Duke defense weathered a couple of ODU attacks, in the 27th minute that was saved by DeCerb and forcing an off-target shot in the 28th minute.
• In the 30th minute, Attanasi threaded a beautiful pass to Lackey cutting through the box for Dukes’ third goal of the half.
• Old Dominion got on the board on a header from Ashlynn Kulha off a free kick to make it 3-1 at the half.
• The Monarchs opened the second half aggressively, cutting the Duke lead to just one when Rhea Kijowski found the back of the net off another header.
• ODU almost tied it soon after in the 52nd minute, but the shot was saved by DeCerb.
• JMU had several opportunities to gain insurance, taking shots on goal in the 59th minute from Ariana Reyes, 72nd minute from Swartz, and 74th minute from Lackey.
• The Dukes allowed just one ODU shot following the second Monarch goal and held on to the finish line.

Quick Facts
• This was the first matchup of the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge for the 2024-25 academic year. With the win, JMU women’s soccer has evened its record with ODU in the Royal Rivalry Challenge, at 2-2-1.
• With the win, JMU remains unbeaten at home against ODU, to a record of 12-0-1.
• The Dukes have won four matches in a row and have taken 15 or more shots in their last three games.
• ODU had not previously allowed three goals in a game this season.

Up Next
JMU hits the road again for another Sun Belt Conference matchup against ULM on Friday, Oct. 4th at 7:00 p.m.

— JMU Athletics —