Women’s soccer rises to first place in CAA with pair of victories

By Sam Kirtley, contributing writer
Posted on October 15, 2007

James Madison took sole possession of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association from Virginia Commonwealth Friday when it defeated William and Mary, in a match of conference rivals. The Dukes improved their record to 11-1-1, 4-0-1 in the conference, with a 1-0 win over the Tribe, who suffered their first CAA loss.

“It was a key matchup, I think there is always a strong rivalry between William and Mary and James Madison,” head coach David Lombardo said. “We were both tied for second place in the conference going into this game, so we felt that whoever was going to win this game would get into hopefully the top seed towards the end of the season.”

The game was a defensive battle, as JMU had only 11 shots to William and Mary’s six. The only goal of the contest was scored by sophomore forward Corky Julien with 19 minutes and two seconds left in the game. The assist went to freshman Cate Tisinger, her eighth of the season. She entered Friday leading the CAA in that category.

“We took advantage of their little bit of sloppiness in the back,” senior forward Annie Lowry said. “It was just good, hard defense and then we just found a way to put it in.”

Freshman goalie Stephanie Poucher, who began the year as the third-string goalie, was put into the starting role after the Dukes lost two goalies to torn ACLs for the season. She had two saves in a shutout performance, her first start for JMU.

“It was a special moment for her, she gets not only her first collegiate win but she gets a shutout against a very good team,” Lombardo said.

While the game was defense-heavy, there were missed scoring opportunities for both teams, especially in the first half.

“We talked about it at halftime, coach really wanted us to work on the diagonal ball and attacking from the other side of the field,” Remmes said. “We did that and we eventually scored off of it.”

Having depth at goalkeeper has proved to be crucial for JMU, combined with good team defense and a consistent offensive attack.

“We’ve just been on a roll all season long and been riding that,” coach Lombardo said. “We’re 11-1-1 right now, there’s not too much to be unhappy about.”

Madison improved to 12-1-1 with a 4-2 victory over Old Dominion on Sunday. The Monarchs defeated Virginia Commonwealth Friday, handing the Rams their first CAA loss of the season. Their loss gave JMU possession of first place in the CAA, at 5-0-1 in conference play.