The William & Mary field hockey team got good possession through the midfield, but was unable to breakthrough on the offensive end en route to a 4-0 setback at James Madison on Friday evening in both teams' spring opener.
The host Dukes scored all four of their goals on tough-chance deflections, first in the 13th minute. Despite that goal, the two teams combined for just two shots in the first half as both sides were trying to knock off the rust of nearly 500 days without a game.
After halftime, the offensive action picked up on both ends of the field, with W&M matching JMU with five shots each in the final 30 minutes. The Dukes were the ones to capitalize, however, with two more tip-ins in the third quarter to go up 3-0. Tribe senior
Melanie Strik (Den Haag, The Netherlands) nearly put her team on the board in the 37th minute, taking a long pass from sophomore
Lauren Curran (Media, Pa.) at the penalty mark, but her shot went just wide of the near post.
JMU tacked on one final goal in the fourth, again on an unlucky bounce of the goalkeeper's pads, while the Tribe kept hammering at the door with three shots and three penalty corners. Perhaps the best chance came right at the end, with senior
Ashley Drum (Norfolk, Va.) firing a shot into the JMU goalkeeper with under 10 seconds left and earning one final untimed corner. The set piece came up shy, though, and the final whistle was blown.
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Starters
W&M –
Kimi Jones (GK),
Audrey Domovich,
Sally Snead,
Grace Cornbrooks,
Haley Hopkins,
Melanie Strik,
Ella Donahue,
Tabby Billingham,
Cara Menges,
Jorja Morgan,
Ashley Drum
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JMU – Brandely Heinbaugh (GK), Tori Carawan, Kara McClure, Phoebe Large, Caroline Cahill, Sarah Beers, Courtney Lynch, Emily Harrison, Mikenna Allen, Rachel Yeager, Morgan Merritt
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Up Next
The Tribe returns to action when it welcomes Drexel to Busch Field on Thursday, March 25. The match is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start time and will be streamed on the Tribe Sports Network.
