HARRISONBURG, Va. – Sophomore attacker
Natalie Sulmonte recorded her sixth hat trick of the season but it was not enough as the No. 13/14 Towson University women's lacrosse team fell at James Madison University, 9-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener for both squads.
THE BASICS
James Madison 9, No. 13/14 Towson 5
Sentara Park, Harrisonburg, Va.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tigers (7-4, 0-1 CAA) scored the first goal of the game as Sulmonte found the back of the net at 27:49. Senior attacker Samantha Brookhart picked up her team-leading 27th assist of the season on the play.
- The Dukes (7-5, 1-0 CAA) won the ensuing draw control and Hanna Haven scored the game-tying goal just 13 seconds later.
- That goal started a 7-0 run to close out the first half for the Dukes. Kristen Gaudian had a hat trick while Elena Romesburg scored a pair of goals to help give the home team a six-goal advantage at the half.
- Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Montalbano got the second half scoring started with her 17th goal of the season at 24:35.
- James Madison scored two of the next three goals and led 9-3 with 19:28 to play in the game.
- Sulmonte completed her hat trick with an unassisted goal at 9:06.
- The Tigers struck one more time in the contest as freshman midfielder Shelby Stack delivered a free position goal with 6:20 left on the clock.
- Both teams had their chances in the final six minutes but neither team was able to find the back of the net and the Dukes claimed the win.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Tigers.
- Emily Poelma made seven saves in the win for the Dukes. Sophomore Angie Benson made eight saves in the loss for the Tigers and also had a pair of caused turnovers.
- Towson finished with 12 caused turnovers in the game, it was the ninth time this season the Tigers have recorded 10 or more caused turnovers in a game.
- Junior defender Tianna Wallpher led the Towson defensive efforts with five caused turnovers and five ground balls. The five caused turnovers were a career-high for Wallpher.
- Freshman defender Olivia Conti had a pair of caused turnovers raising her season total to 27. That moved Conti into the top 10 for single-season caused turnovers at Towson. She is just the second freshman to get on to that list (Alexa Demski-2010).
- Gaudian led James Madison with four goals.
- The Dukes held a 22-13 edge in shots and won 10 of the 16 draw controls.
Towson is back in action on Friday, April 7 when it hosts William & Mary at 7 p.m.
