Green not Dukes’ favorite color

Carolyn Walser / senior photographer JMU freshman midfielder Lauren Bradley rushes downfield with the ball against Dartmouth.

Facing their highest-ranked opponent of the season, JMU came out flat.

Dartmouth College opened the game with six goals in the first 17 minutes and the No. 7 Big Green hung on for a 14-12 win over the Dukes Tuesday at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.

"I thought we didn’t show up in the beginning of the game and that was the kicker," JMU coach Kellie Young said. "I honestly think this team is still trying to figure out who is going to control the tempo and we tend to play three-quarter instead of all-out."

Dartmouth midfielder Katieanne Christian led the way with five goals, two of which came during the Big Green’s opening run. Christian, who entered the game tied for fourth in the Ivy League in goals per game, took advantage of JMU’s slow start by attacking the net.

"No doubt she’s a great player," JMU senior defender Ashlee Dardine said. "We were ready but the slides were just a second slow. We were back on our heels a little bit and let them in the crease a lot."

Offensively, the Dukes were equally sluggish, turning the ball over 16 times, often in critical situations.

"We lost it with turnovers," Young said. "When our defense would have big stops we’d throw the ball away. Every player had one big turnover that hurt us."

Down 6-0 and sputtering offensively, JMU still refused to fold. The Dukes went on a 4-1 run on goals from sophomore midfielder Lynlea Cronin, junior attacker Brooke McKenzie and freshman midfielders Julie Stone and Emily Haller to trim the lead to 7-4 at the 7:11 mark in the half.

"It was just going about it one at a time," senior midfielder Jessica Brownridge said. "We go inch-by-inch and chip away."

Brownridge rounded out JMU’s run 29 seconds later, firing a shot over Dartmouth goalkeeper Devon Wills’ left shoulder.

"We started getting the draw and that allowed us to push the fast break," Brownridge said. "That’s what we’re good at. Once we got a couple of fast break goals it started rolling."

JMU went into halftime down 9-8. The Dukes came within one again at 10-9 with 25:26 left in the game, but Dartmouth went on a 4-1 run to take a 14-10 lead with 9:59 remaining.

JMU trimmed the lead to 14-12 and regained possession with just over two minutes remaining. But Dartmouth’s defense clamped down and prevented the Dukes from getting off a good shot the rest of the way.

"We’re looking to certain players to put the ball in the back of the net," Young said. "It showed there. We were looking to Kelly [Berger], but nobody else was moving off the ball. We need to fix that. This game was a wakeup call in terms of playing from the first whistle."

The road doesn’t get any easier for JMU as the Dukes host No. 16 Loyola College Friday, in a game pitting former Colonial Athletic Association rivals. Loyola and JMU have combined for 11 of the CAA’s 13 conference championships.

"This is going to be fuel," Young said of the Dartmouth loss. "Our team is going to be fired up for [Loyola]."

And Brownridge said she would like nothing better than to beat the Greyhounds on her last attempt.

"The fire of having a loss, you always come back stronger," Brownridge said. "In my four years, we unfortunately have never beaten Loyola. Friday will be the final call."