Women's Lacrosse Knocks Out #12 James Madison in Double Overtime, 9-8

Thursday, February 28

Hanover, N.H.(Memorial Field)

2:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

James Madison

Women's Lacrosse Knocks Out #12 James Madison in Double Overtime, 9-8

2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

Hanover, N.H. - Dartmouth senior co-captain Kristen Barry (Duxbury, Mass.) broke through the James Madison defense to score the sudden-victory game-winning goal in double-overtime this afternoon.

The 17th ranked Big Green (1-1) upset the 12th ranked Dukes (0-1), 9-8 in double-overtime on Dartmouth's temporary home at Memorial Field. Today's date marked the second-earliest home game of the season in program history, with the Green having hosted Syracuse last year on Feb. 24.

Dartmouth utilized a balanced offensive attack, with five different players scoring goals as the Big Green outshot the Dukes, 26-18.

"I am most proud of how our team responded today after the Syracuse loss and to having JMU go up on us 4-1," said Head Coach Amy Patton. "Our kids really battled back and showed that they have the character to keep fighting and that they are a good team."

The Big Green got on the board first when rookie Greta Meyer (Denver, Colo.) potted her first career goal off a feed from classmate Kat Collins (Darien, Conn.) at 26:18. James Madison came roaring back, however, scoring four goals in the next 11 minutes including two from reigning CAA Player of the Year Annie Wagner, to go up 4-1 at 13:09.

Sophomore Eliza Bennett (Darien, Conn.) gave the Big Green a boost before halftime, scoring the last goal of the period at 12:36 to make it 4-2, JMU at the break.

Dartmouth came out swinging in the second, scoring two quick goals to knot it at 4-4. Katherine Chiusano (Medford, Mass.) struck first at 28:46 before Kathleen Wallace (Shoreham, N.Y.) scored her first career goal off a free-position at 25:55.

Kim Griffin connected on a free-position shot to put the Dukes back on top temporarily, 5-4 at 21:58. Dartmouth responded with four-straight goals in just over five minutes from Wallace, Barry, Chiusano and Meyer to build an 8-5 lead with just 11:43 left in the game.

James Madison called a timeout to regroup and it worked. The Dukes scored two goals just 37 seconds apart from Natasha Fuchs and Emily Haller to make it a one-goal game. After nearly nine scoreless minutes, Haller answered the call again off a feed from Griffin to tie it at 8-8 with just 1:19 remaining in regulation.

Meyer got a good look at the goal for Dartmouth with 34 seconds left but JMU's Kelly Wetzel made a big save to preserve the tie and ultimately force overtime.

The teams traded possession in the first three minutes of overtime and the Big Green was on the attack in the final 30 seconds, but was unable to get a good shot off. In the second half, JMU held control for nearly the entire three minutes, but the Big Green buckled down defensively, doing a great job to stifle the Dukes and send it to a third extra period.

Entering the first sudden-victory period, Meyer came up big with her fifth draw control of the day to win the ball for Dartmouth. After a wide shot by Meyer and a save by Wetzel on Bennett's attempt, Chiusano snagged a critical ground ball for the Green. She was then fouled and Dartmouth awarded a free-position with 1:06 remaining.

Chiusano passed the ball off to Barry who would not be denied, busting through the JMU defense to score the winner off a high shot.

"We knew if our play did not pan out we wanted KB to have the ball in her stick," said Patton.

Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) had a solid day in goal for Dartmouth with seven saves while Wetzel made 11 stops for James Madison. Senior Kate Labrum (Wallingford, Pa.) did a great job defensively for the Green, causing four turnovers and scooping up four ground balls.

"There are so many lessons that can be learned from a tight game like this early in the season and it's important for us to know that we can compete with and beat a top team like James Madison," said Patton. "Our offense is truly a team attack as evidenced by a lot of people taking shots today. Teams will double Kristen but our attack relies on teamwork and we want to be able to beat you with other people."