TOWSON, Md. - Senior midfielder Kim Griffin scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period as 12th-ranked James Madison University (8-2, 1-0) overcame a comeback by eighth-ranked Towson University (7-3, 1-1) to edge the Tigers by a 10-9 margin in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the Tigers' Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Friday night.
Griffin, who also had an assist in the win, tallied an unassisted goal with 1:14 remaining in the first segment of the second overtime period to give the Dukes their second win in the last three games.
"It was a good game, especially since it seemed like we couldn't catch a break in the first half," Towson Coach Missy Doherty said. "We were 2 for 15 shooting in the first half and had to come back. We need to be able to shoot the ball better if we want to win these types of games.
"I thought the girls came back and played a great game tonight," Coach Doherty added. "I thought we played well defensively even when JMU scored the game-winning goal. It just happened to be a good shot that went in."
Led by two goals and an assist from sophomore attacker Monica Zabel, the Dukes jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead in the opening 24 minutes of the first half.
The Dukes' defense held Towson without a goal for the first 28 minutes, 15 seconds until junior attacker Jess Dunn scored off a feed from sophomore attacker Sarah Appelt, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
Dunn's goal ignited a six-goal run for the Tigers, who took a 6-5 lead with 16:06 remaining in the second half. Senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke scored all three of her goals during the run.
"The team is always fighting back and I never counted them out," Coach Doherty said. "We have a number of players who can step up when they need to. Fortunately, our shots began to fall and we were able to come back hard."
However, the Dukes responded with back-to-back goals to regain a 7-6 advantage with 11:55 remaining in regulation. After freshman attacker Casey Ancarrow scored to tie the game on a free position shot, sophomore attacker Alex Napoli converted a Griffin feed for her second goal of the season to give James Madison a one-goal cushion.
The teams traded goals before senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik tied the game at 8-8 with her second goal of the game, scoring off a feed from senior attacker Jacie Kendall with 7:34 remaining in regulation.
The Tigers had a pair of opportunities in the final minute of regulation to earn the win, but shots by Fratzke and Dunn missed the goal and the game went into overtime.
Ancarrow gave the Dukes a one-goal lead early in the first segment of the first overtime period when she scored an unassisted goal past sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters. However, Kendall answered early in the second segment of the period on a free-position shot to tie the game at 9-9.
With time running down in the first overtime period, the Dukes had two chances to win the game, but Teeters made a pair of saves on shots by Griffin and Ancarrow to keep the game tied and force the sudden-victory overtime period.
The Dukes won the draw control to start the second overtime period and held the ball to set up Griffin's game-winning goal.
Ancarrow led the Dukes with three goals and two assists while Zabel contributed two goals with an assist. Senior goalkeeper Morgan Kelly made ten saves for the Dukes, who were outshot by a 30-24 margin. However, James Madison had a 6-1 shot advantage in the overtime periods.
Fratzke scored three goals for her seventh "hat trick" of the season in a losing effort for the Tigers. She also moved into third place on the Tigers' career goals list with 179 career goals, passing Becky Trumbo, '06. Marcinik added two goals with an assist for the Tigers, who had their six-game home winning streak snapped.
The Tigers will finish their three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they host George Mason at 1 p.m. at Unitas Stadium. The Patriots dropped a 13-6 decision at Delaware in their CAA opener on Friday night.
"We need to be ready to regroup on Sunday and bring the same effort we had tonight into Sunday's game against George Mason," Coach Doherty said. "We have to be able to finish our shots and regroup for another strong conference game."
Meanwhile, the Dukes will travel to Delaware on Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. game against the Blue Hens at Rullo Stadium.
College Women's Lacrosse: #12 James Madison University 10, #8 Towson University 9 (2OT)
#12 James Madison (8-2, 1-0) 5-3-1-1 / 10
#8 Towson (7-3, 1-1) 2-6-1-0 / 9
Goals: JMU - Casey Ancarrow 3, Monica Zabel 2, Kim Griffin 1, Ariel Lane 1, Mary Kate Lomady 1, Alex Napoli 1, Kelsey MacDonald 1; TOW - Hillary Fratzke 3, Nikki Marcinik 2, Jess Dunn 2, Jacie Kendall 1, Sarah Appelt 1. Assists: JMU - Casey Ancarrow 2, Kim Griffin 1, Ashley Kimener 1, Monica Zabel 1; TOW - Sarah Appelt 1, Jacie Kendall 1, Nikki Marcinik 1. Saves: JMU - Morgan Kelly 10 (67:14, 9 goals allowed); TOW - Mary Teeters 8 (67:14, 10 goals allowed). Shots: JMU - 24; TOW - 30. Free Position Shots: JMU - 1 for 3; TOW - 3 for 6. Attendance: 817.
Post-Game Notes:
- The Tigers and the Dukes met for the 27th time in the all-time series on Friday night ... James Madison now holds a 21-6 lead in the series and snapped a two-game losing streak over Towson.
- The Tigers had their six-game home win streak snapped on Friday night ... It was the Tigers' first loss at Unitas Stadium since a 10-7 setback against Old Dominion last season.
- The Tigers are now 7-3 in the month of April since last season ... They had won seven straight games in April prior to Friday night's loss against the Dukes.
- The Tigers played in their first double overtime game since March 28, 2007, an 11-10 loss against Loyola (Md.).
- The Tigers allowed the game's first goal for the third time this season ... They have lost all three of those games.
- The Dukes remain unbeaten on the road this season and are now 7-0 away from the JMU Lacrosse Complex this season.
- The Dukes also played in their fifth one-goal game of the season ... They are now 4-1 in games decided by a single goal.
- With her three-goal effort on Friday night, Fratzke has now scored 16 goals with 3 assists against James Madison in five career games.
- Fratzke recorded her 39th "career" hat trick against the Dukes on Friday night ... It also marked her 54th career multi-goal game and the 56th multi-point game of her career.
- Fratzke has tallied at least one point in all 64 games of her college career.
- With six draw controls in the loss against James Madison, Fratzke became the third player in NCAA Division I history to record 300 or more draw controls ... She now has 304 draw controls in her career.
- Fratzke also moved into sole possession of third place on the NCAA list for consecutive games with a goal ... She has scored a goal in 58 straight games, passing Quinn Carney of the University of Maryland on the list.
- Dunn extended her streak of consecutive games with a goal to 10 straight games ... Dunn and Fratzke are the only Tigers to score at least one goal in all 10 games this year ... They also reached the 30-goal mark for the season in Friday night's loss.
- Dunn has now scored 19 of her 31 goals at home this season ... In addition, she has scored 20 goals in the first half.
- Kendall extended her streak of consecutive games with a point to seven straight games ... She also scored a goal for the fifth straight game.
- Griffin has scored the game-winning goal in each of James Madison's last three wins ... Each of those wins have come against a nationally-ranked opponent.
- Ancarrow recorded her third "hat trick" of the season ... She also scored a goal for the fourth straight game and has a point in all 10 games for the Dukes this year.
- Zabel posted her second multi-goal game of the season in the win on Friday ... She had a three-goal effort against Richmond on March 13.
