Tribe Falls at No. 8 James Madison

Senior goalkeeper Gwen Hunter recorded her 300th career save in the loss.

10/21/07 2:50PM

Harrisonburg, Va. - The William and Mary field hockey team fell to No. 8 James Madison, 3-0, in Harrisonburg, Va., on Sunday afternoon. The Tribe held the Dukes scoreless for the opening 35 minutes of play, but JMU tallied a trio of second-half markers for the victory. W&M fell to 8-9 overall and 2-5 in CAA play, while the Dukes upped their mark to 14-3 on the year and 6-1 in league action.

The Dukes outshot W&M, 11-1, in the opening half, but the Tribe defense held tough. Senior goalkeeper Gwen Hunter made a quartet of saves in the opening 35 minutes to keep James Madison off the scoreboard.

W&M’s best scoring chance of the first half came in the closing minutes of the half. After the Tribe earned a penalty corner in the 31st minute, senior midfielder Jes Kacerek sent a shot on cage that was stopped by JMU goalkeeper Merel Broekhuizen.

James Madison broke through for the first goal of the game seven minutes into the second half. Meghan Brain scored her eighth goal of the year for JMU, putting in a rebound off a sequence of three shots that followed a penalty corner. The initial shot of the series was blocked by Hunter, but JMU grabbed the rebound only to see its second attempt blocked by the W&M defense. The Dukes finally found the boards as Brain corralled the second rebound.

The Tribe looked for the equalizer in the 52nd minute. W&M earned a penalty corner and the ball made its way to junior Katie Broaddus. Her attempt was stopped by JMU goalkeeper Kelsey Cutchins to preserve the Dukes’ lead.

JMU pushed its lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later. Melissa Stefaniak found Ashley Walls, who scored off the short pass from eight yards out. The Dukes tacked on its final goal in the 64th minute of play as Stefaniak dribbled around a Tribe defender and found the boards for her ninth goal of the season.

Hunter finished the day with six saves. She became the fifth Tribe goalkeeper to record 300 saves in a career. She now has 81 stops on the season.

The Tribe will return to action when it wraps up a three-game road trip at Richmond on Thursday, Oct. 25. The match is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start time. W&M will wrap up the regular season by hosting No. 11 Old Dominion on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 1 p.m. The match will serve as senior day for the Tribe which will honor its quartet of seniors in Gwen Hunter, Jes Kacerek, Laura Kastelic and Kim Hedley.

Box Score