HPU Women’s Lacrosse Falls at No. 20 James Madison, 16-8

HPU-womens-lacrosse-2015

• Senior goalkeeper Julia Burns made 14 saves in the cage and picked up a career-high eight ground balls for the Panthers
• Junior Allie Foard added to her team-leading point total with a goal and two assists to pace the HPU offense
• HPU returns to action Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest vs. UMBC inside Vert Stadium

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The High Point University women’s lacrosse team dropped a 16-8 contest to No. 20 James Madison on Monday afternoon at JMU’s University Park Turf Field.

The Panthers (1-3) played the Dukes to a 3-3 tie over the first 22 minutes of action, but JMU (3-1) used a 6-0 run over the next 13 minutes to take command of the game.

“James Madison is a good team and I thought our offense had a lack of urgency at times and made too many mistakes to beat a top-20 team,” head coach Lyndsey Boswell said. “Defensively, we made some big plays, and Julia Burns played really well in the cage, but we allowed too many second and third chances.”

Burns, who entered the game fifth in the nation in saves per game (11.67), put forth another impressive performance Monday. The Arnold, Md., native made 14 saves and picked up a career-high eight ground balls against the Dukes.

Junior Allie Foard posted her fourth multi-point effort in as many games this season with a team-high three points on a goal and two assists. The Severna Park, Md., native also picked up two ground balls on the day. She leads the team with 11 points (7g, 4a) this season.

Senior Abby Berrettone and junior Emily Meier each added a pair of goals, while junior Kristina Renner tallied an assist and grabbed a team-high four draw controls on the day. Freshman Erica Perrotta added three draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Panthers.

JMU held a 43-21 edge in shots for the game. HPU picked up 19 ground balls to the Dukes’ 23, while James Madison held a slight 13-11 advantage in draw controls on the day.

HPU raced out to a 2-0 lead behind goals from Berrettone and Foard in the first two minutes of the game. JMU answered with two goals of their own to tie the score at 2-2 at the 25:50 mark of the opening half.

Gardner tallied a free position goal to put HPU back up 3-2, but the Dukes answered just 30 seconds later to tie the score at 3-3 with 22:58 to go in the period. After 14 minutes of back-and-forth action in which neither team could find the back of the net, JMU put up two more goals to move ahead 5-3 with 7:16 to play in the half.

The Dukes then scored the final three goals of the half to take an 8-3 lead into the break. HPU held a 12-11 edge in ground balls in the half and were tied with JMU in draw controls (5-5), but the Panthers committed nine turnovers in the period.

The Dukes posted the first goal of the second half, before HPU responded with a 3-0 run over the next five minutes to pull within three at 9-6. The sequence included scores from Berrettone, Meier and senior Stephanie Pazulski.

JMU pushed it back out to 10-6, but a goal from Meier off a great feed from junior Leah Pace moved HPU within three (10-7) with 18:16 to play. From there, the Panthers could not move any closer for the remainder of the game.

Monday’s game marked the second time in four contests so far this season that HPU matched up with a ranked foe, as the Panthers opened the season at No. 2 North Carolina on Feb. 13.

“We are getting better in certain areas each time we play and I know once we put all of what we’ve learned together for 60 minutes it will lead to very positive results for this team,” Boswell said. “I love this group of girls, and there is a ton of potential here. I’m excited to see what this week brings before going into our game with UMBC on Saturday.”

HPU will host the UMBC Retrievers (1-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Vert Stadium.

#GoHPU

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