Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/4/18
From Press Release
Senior midfielder Haley Warden (Garnet Valley) broke the program’s career record for most draw controls and three players recorded hat tricks, as No. 5 James Madison women’s lacrosse cruised past host Temple 19-7 on Saturday afternoon at Howarth Field.
JMU improved to 5-0 on the year, marking its best start in seven years, while the Owls fell to 3-3 in 2018.
Warden – a 2014 Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year – won five draw controls to surpass Gail Decker (2001-04) for the all-time lead in draw controls, as she now has 165 for her career. That mark also ranks seventh in the history of the Colonial Athletic Association.
She was also one of three Dukes to record hat tricks, notching three goals and one assist while adding four groundballs and one caused turnover. Senior attacker Kristen Gaudian led all players with five goals, two of which came on the free position, and senior midfielder Elena Romesburg (Central Bucks West) had three goals. Both Gaudian and Romesburg won four draw controls for the Dukes. Senior attacker Katie Kerrigan matched Gaudian’s five points, contributing two goals and three assists.
Temple freshman Bridget Whitaker (Springfield-Delco) scored the first two goals of her career, going 2-for-2 on free position opportunities. Freshman Jen Rodzewich (Pennridge), senior Toni Yuko (Manheim Township) and sophomores Maddie Gebert (Owen J. Roberts), Michelle Koscinski (Garnet Valley) and Olivia Thompson all tallied one goal each.
JMU never trailed and used a five-goal run to grab an 8-2 lead in the first half. Temple went almost 16 minutes without a goal during that time and the Dukes would take a 9-3 lead into halftime. After a Temple goal early in the second, JMU scored six of the next seven to raise its lead to double digits.
The Dukes out-shot Temple 38-17, including a 29-14 clip in shots on goal. JMU also held advantages in caused turnovers (7-6) and ground balls (21-13), while the Owls won the draw-controls battle (15-13). JMU turned the ball over just 10 times, compared to TU’s 16. Junior Ellie Harmeyer (4-0) got the win between the pipes, making three saves, while redshirt freshman Molly Dougherty had four saves in the second half.
Temple had just one player score two goals in Bridget Whitaker, both coming on the free position, and Maryn Lowell took the loss in net despite making 10 saves.
QUOTING COACH SHELLEY
“I am so proud of my team today,” Head Coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Our starters and relied upon players set the bar so high and that allowed us to get all healthy athletes an opportunity to compete. I actually got emotional on the sidelines today when Haley broke the record because I know what it means for our program and for Haley to make this happen in her home town of Philadelphia. To be compared to and surpass and athlete like Gail Decker is a credit to all of Haley’s hard work over the years. It was a great day for the Dukes.”
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