May 13, 2004

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Senior Gail Decker, the national leader in goals and points per game, scored seven goals, including five in the second half and fifth-ranked James Madison used a seven-goal run in the second half to roll past Johns Hopkins, 14-9 in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championships. The Dukes ran their winning streak to 11 games, improved to 16-3 on the year and will play Vanderbilt (a 5-4 winner over Loyola in the first round) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Sunday. Johns Hopkins, which was making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament, finishes the season at 12-5.

The Dukes led 7-5 early in the second half before Anne Crisafulli (Garden City, NY/Garden City) and Heidi Pearce (Chestertown, MD/St. Andrew's (DE)) scored back-to-back goals in a span of just 51 seconds to tie the game at 7-7. That was the fifth and final tie of the game as Kelly Berger scored four goals and Decker added three during the 7-0 run, which was jump-started by a Decker goal 17 seconds after Pearce had tied the game and ended with back-to-back goals by Berger. Berger's final goal with 9:24 remaining gave the Dukes what proved to be an insurmountable 14-7 lead.

The first 35 minutes of the game saw the Dukes carry the play, only to have the Blue Jays hang tight with timely goal-scoring and solid goal-keeping.

The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on an Erin Riordan (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) goal at the 28:03 mark, only to have JMU strike for three goals in a span of less than three minutes. Decker and Berger sandwiched goals around a Jessica Brownridge tally to stake the Dukes to the 3-1 lead.

The two-goal cushion was short-lived as Pearce's first goal at the 21:31 mark trimmed the deficit to 3-2 and Kelley Putnam's (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) first goal of the game tied the score less than two minutes later. Neither team would score for the next 13 minutes as the defenses settled in, but Johanna Buchholz's free position goal with 6:16 remaining in the first half broke the tie and gave JMU a 4-3 lead. Meagan Voight (Sykesville, MD/Liberty) and Decker traded goals in the final five minutes of the first half as JMU carried a 5-4 lead into halftime.

Senior Marlena Wittelsberger (Phoenix, MD/Dulaney) tied the game just 18 seconds into the second half, but Decker scored twice in a span of just 16 seconds to make it 7-5. That set the stage for Crisafulli and Pearce to tie the game for the final time before the Dukes put the game away with the 7-0 run that covered a span of just over 14 minutes. Putnam and Crisafulli added late goals to account for the final scoring.

Decker and Berger combined for 12 of JMU's 14 goals, none of which were assisted. Amy Altig made nine saves in goal for the Dukes, who will host the NCAA Quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt.

Pearce and freshman Mary Key (Stevensville, MD/St. Mary's of Annapolis) led the Blue Jays with three points apiece as Pearce scored the two goals and added one assist, while Key had three assists. Key had scored at least two goals in every game this season before being held without a goal by the Dukes. Putnam and Crisafulli both added the two goals and sophomore Lauren Riddick (Crozet, VA/St. Anne's Belfield) made 12 saves in goal for the Blue Jays, who were outshot, 27-23 and controlled just six of 23 draws.

Johns Hopkins (12-5) 4-5/9

James Madison (16-3) 5-9/14

Goals: JH: Putnam-2, Pearce-2, Crisafulli-2, Riordan, Voight, Wittelsberger JM: Decker-7, Berger-5, Buchholz, Brownridge. Assists: JH: Key-3, Pearce, Dean. Saves: JH: Riddick-12. JM: Altig-9. Attendance: 255

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