No. 19 JMU Edged by USC in NCAA Tournament
Kelly McCarthy
BOX SCORE
DURHAM, N.C. – No. 19 James Madison had their impressive season come to a close on Friday night, falling to USC, 13-10, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes, the reigning CAA Champions, finish their season with a 15-5 record.
Seven different Dukes scored, with Taylor Gress, Leah Monticello, and Betsy Angel each having two-goal nights. Senior Stephanie Finley finished with a goal and two assists while Alison Curwin had a goal, an assist, three caused turnovers, and three groundballs.
JMU started the game by scoring three unanswered goals in a 1:21 span. USC countered with two goals in less than a minute to pull within 3-2 at the 18:45 mark. The two teams continued to battle with USC tying the game, 7-7, with 5:57 left in the first half. Monticello returned the lead to the Dukes at the 1:04 mark but USC’s Michaela Michael scored with 50 seconds left to send the game into the break tied at 8-8.
Lexi Cross scored a quick goal for the Dukes at 27:43 to start the second frame, but the Women of Troy kept JMU off the board for the next 23 minutes. In that time, USC scored five goals to open up a 13-9 advantage. Angel pulled JMU within 13-10 at 4:10 but USC held on for the win.
In the cage, Schylar Healy had seven saves for JMU while Gussie Johns had three saves for USC.
It was the first NCAA victory in their first appearance for the upstart Women of Troy.