McKenzie, Dukes storm past Hokies

Junior midfielder nets five goals in 14-10 win

Amy Paterson / photo editor Freshman midfielder Julie Stone battles for the ball.

JMU lacrosse coach Kellie Young has preached offensive balance all season. Thursday night against Virginia Tech, the Dukes displayed just that.

Five JMU players scored goals as the Dukes held off the Hokies 14-10 at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.

"It’s exciting," Young said of the balanced attack. "Everyone’s a threat and it’s tough to shut us down when it’s not only Kelly Berger going to the goal."

Berger did her part. The sophomore midfielder scored the game’s first two goals and finished with four on the night — all in the first period — as JMU took an 8-5 lead into halftime.

Junior attacker Brooke McKenzie matched Berger’s effort in the second period, scoring four goals after halftime. McKenzie finished the game with five.

"It’s a total team effort," McKenzie said. "It’s not looking for one person. Whoever is in the right position at the right time is going to put it in the cage."

On her fourth goal of the game, McKenzie was that person in the right place. With sophomore attacker Jess Maggio controlling the ball behind the Hokies’ net, McKenzie broke for the goal. Maggio sent a pass over the cage and McKenzie rifled a one-timer past Virginia Tech goalkeeper Nikki Schiavone to give the Dukes an 11-7 lead.

"Like we said from the start, we don’t have one go-to player," Berger said. "Everyone’s coming up big. Even the people who aren’t on the board are doing a lot behind the scenes that open up opportunities for everybody else."

Part of that is providing good feeds in the middle. JMU finished the game with three assists.

"I don’t think we’re a team that feeds a lot," Maggio said. "This game we had a lot of assists. It helps our attack a lot."

Maggio had one of those assists on McKenzie’s one-timer. Senior attacker Jessica Brownridge added the other two.

Another "behind-the-scenes" stat is turnovers. JMU caused 20. Young said her defense — which had been a focal point at practice — looked better against Virginia Tech.

"I think the first half defense is what we’re working to have," Young said. "It’s a doubling defense that’s aggressive."

Senior defender Johanna Buchholz said the aggressiveness came from better communication off the ball, and against the Hokies — a team that feeds inside — Buchholz said it was imperative to be aggressive.

"We like to pressure the ball against a team like that," Buchholz said. "Our positioning was a lot better because we were communicating, and that helped us stay with our attacker."

Down 6-2 with 9:16 to go in the first half, Virginia Tech started to crack JMU’s defensive armor and mounted a rally before halftime. The Hokies closed to 7-5 on midfielder Jackie Gray’s goal late in the opening period.

But JMU answered quickly. Off a loose-ball turnover, McKenzie found Maggio, who drove toward the goal and drew a foul. Maggio’s free position shot was knocked down, but she corralled the rebound and shoveled the ball past Schiavone with 28.2 seconds left in the half.

"My shot got blocked," Maggio said. "It hit off the goalie and I just grabbed it in the air and snapped it into the goal."

Virginia Tech rallied again in the second half and closed to 8-7 on midfielder Lindsay Pieper’s goal with 25:04 left in the game, but the fired-up Hokies never got closer. The Dukes countered with four straight goals — one by freshman attacker Julie Stone, two by McKenzie and one by sophomore midfielder Lynlea Cronin — to give JMU a 12-7 cushion with 18:36 left to play.

The Dukes, who were embarrassed by Virginia Tech in a scrimmage last fall, led by at least three the rest of the way.

"It was that vivid memory of the fall when they beat us," Berger said. "We weren’t letting it happen again."