HARRISONBURG, Va. – Elon University women’s soccer fell to the James Madison Dukes, 3-0, on Thursday, Oct. 18, at Sentara Park.
“I’m proud of the effort put forth by our players tonight,” said head coach Neil Payne. “Some things were not in our control. James Madison’s play is measured by how many corners and throw-ins they win and all of their goals came from set pieces. They have multiple options in this department, as they are a really tall team who enjoy phases of play when the ball is in the air. We had three one-on-ones with the goalkeeper in the first half, and while we were disappointed not to finish them, I’m pleased that we continue to create real scoring chances in every game. As we progress through the season, we are improving in certain areas of the field and this group of young players are showing real development.”
The Phoenix falls to 3-9-3 overall and 1-6-0 in CAA action, while James Madison improves to 10-7-0 overall and its CAA record to 7-1-0 this season.
HIGHLIGHTS
The Dukes got on the board first in the 12th minute as Ginger Deel scored her seventh goal of the season off a long throw-in.
Elon nearly responded just minutes later as Taylor Paradoski’s one-on-one chance missed the left post. The maroon and gold then nearly capitalized on a goalkeeper giveaway just seconds later, but Carson Jones’chance was denied by the right post.
The Phoenix continued to be stout defensively the rest of the half as James Madison was only able to muster one more shot in the 31st minute, but the attempt missed high and to the right. The Dukes would hold a 1-0 lead after 45 minutes as the total shot count was just 3-2 in favor of JMU at the break.
In the second half, after James Madison had a shot attempt in the 48th minute miss to the left, Kayla Hodgesgot a good look on a header in the 57th minute that also missed to the right of the goal.
James Madison extended its lead in the 75th minute off its fifth corner kick of the match as Haley Crawford slotted home her eighth goal of the season. Just about four minutes later, Hannah Coulling’s header solidified the victory for the Dukes, putting JMU up 3-0 off Phoebe Dinga’s corner kick.
The Dukes outshot the Phoenix 8-5 in the match and had a 6-2 advantage in the corner count. Valentina Estrada made three saves for Elon in goal.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix closes out the regular season with two road matches. Elon will face Drexel on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m., followed by UNCW on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.