Williamsburg, Va. (April 10, 2011) - In game that featured two nationally ranked squads, the College of William and Mary's 17^th -ranked women's lacrosse team was edged, 11-9, in an overtime thriller with ninth-ranked James Madison on Sunday afternoon at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.

"Today's game featured two very good teams battling it out," stated Tribe Head Coach Christine Halfpenny.  "At the end, it really came down to who was going to execute last and James Madison was just able to covert their opportunities.  Overall, I am proud of our team's effort, resilience and determination.  We were very focused and poised this afternoon."

The loss drops the Tribe's record to 6-5 overall (1-1 in CAA), while the Dukes improve to 9-2 (3-0 in CAA). 

The game was a physical battle from the opening draw, as the two squad's combined for 43 total fouls (22 for JMU).  For the first 40 minutes, neither side could gain much of an advantage, as there were 12 total ties or lead changes.   Statistically, the two teams were as tight as the score would indicate, as the Tribe held slight advantages in ground balls (20-17) and had six fewer turnovers (10-16), while James Madison outshot the College (24-17) and had 13 draws (to 11 for W&M).

The Tribe received a tremendous effort from senior net minder Emily Geary, as she turned away nine shots on the afternoon, including stuffing a potential game winning free-position shot with just six seconds remaining in regulation.

The Tribe had three different players tally a pair of goals (freshman Taelor Salmon, sophomore Kyrstin Mackrides and senior Ashley Holofcener), while Madison got eight of its 11 scores from the trio of Casey Ancarrow (3), Ariel Lane (3) and Mary Lomady (2).

In the first half, Golden started the scoring off with a brilliant finish at 25:41, but JMU would counter less than three minutes later with the equalizer.  Mackrides would push the Tribe's lead to two with a pair of scores just minutes apart.  Her second success came at 19:46, off a beautiful feed from Salmon and forced JMU to take a timeout. 

The Dukes quickly regrouped and scored quickly after gaining possession of the next two draw controls.  The second of its two goals came with 18:31 remaining.

Over the next eight minutes, the Tribe methodically built its lead back to two, at 5-3, as Holofcener converted a free-position shot at 12:58 then dealt out a beautiful helper to Salmon at 10:24. 

The final 10 minutes saw the two teams turn the intensity level up another notch and play a full-field game, but it was the Dukes who were able to convert, as it scored three-straight times to take a 6-5 lead into the break.

The College came out of the intermission on a mission and simply dominated the first 10 minutes of play, using scores from senior Maggie Anderson (29:39), Salmon (27:20) and Holofcener (20:46) to regain control of the contest at 8-6.  But, seven minutes of game time later, James Madison had the game knotted back up, after Mary Kate Lomdy scored with 13:02 remaining. 

The final 10 minutes remained frenetic, with the College receiving a beautiful score from Jenna Dougherty off a slick feed from Anderson at 8:51.  Unfortunately, for the Tribe faithful in attendance, they weren't able to make it stand, as Lane found the back of the next with 6:50 remaining to even the contest at 9-9.

The only shot on net for the remainder of regulation came when Geary thwarted an Ancarrow free position attempt that was awarded with just 11 ticks remaining.

The overtime got off to a difficult start for the College's, as the Tribe's Tewaarton Award candidate, Grace Golden, was yellow-carded just seconds after James Madison earned the opening draw.  The Dukes would eventually turn the possession into the critical score and end the first three-minute session with the 10-9 lead.   Golden earned a free position opportunity about mid-way through the final three minute period, but JMU keeper Alex Menghetti stepped up for the big save and ended the Tribe's final true threat.    Madison scored with just 11 seconds remaining to set the final at 11-9.

The Tribe will be looking to bounce back this coming Friday and Sunday, as it hosts a pair of CAA opponents in Hofstra (Fri., April 15 at 7:00 pm) and Drexel (Sun., April 17 at 1:00 pm).