No. 8 JMU handles Hens

By Sam Kirtley, contributing writer
Posted on September 24, 2007 

The JMU women’s field hockey team secured a 1-0 record in the CAA on Friday with a 1-0 victory over the No. 17 ranked Delaware Blue Hens.

The win improved the team’s overall record on the season to 6-2. This was also the Dukes fifth shutout in eight games.

The lone goal of the game was scored on a rebounded shot by freshman Randi Segear. This was her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

“I just happened to be at the right place at the right time, I don’t know, I just saw it and hit it,” Segear said.

The Dukes controlled the ball for the majority of the game as they ate up the clock with a consistent attack. This resulted in Delaware having no shots on goal for the entire game while JMU was able to get off four of its own.

“We possessed the ball very, very well. It was a good team effort,” JMU coach Antoinette Lucas said. “We knocked on the door against Delaware, but we certainly would have liked to have scored on more of our opportunities, but overall it was a good team performance and we’ll take the win, 1-0 or 6-0.”

Most importantly, the defending CAA tournament champions were able to start out with a win in their conference, in a game they had long prepared for.

“We mainly worked on our teamwork and passes because we knew we’d be able to work up the lanes and we just got really psyched for the game, it was our first CAA game,” Segear said.

The Dukes were coming off of a 1-3 loss to UVA and needed a win to stay in the top ten.

“It was good we tried to play our best coming off of a loss from UVA, so we just kind of stepped it up. First half and second half we just kind of stepped it up and played our game,” junior Ashley Walls said.

Madison continued conference play Sunday against Towson at the JMU Field Hockey Complex. Sophomore Meghan Bain scored the first two goals and also had an assist as JMU won 5-1. Bain leads the Dukes in goals for the season with five.

Junior Ashley Walls also scored two goals for JMU, and junior Melissa Stefaniak had a goal and an assist Sunday.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Cutchins split time with senior Merel Broekhuizen, as Cutchins allowed one goal in the first 54 minutes and Broekhuizen held the Tigers scoreless in the final 16.

Madison plays next Friday, Sept. 28 at Drexel, its third conference game. JMU’s next home game is Sunday, Oct. 7 against California at noon.