May 1, 2004

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Top-seeded James Madison scored the game's first seven goals and held off fourth-seeded George Mason, 18-13, Saturday afternoon in the first semifinal game of the 2004 Colonial Athletic Association Women's Lacrosse Championship at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.

JMU senior Gail Decker, the 2004 CAA Player of the Year, scored a game-high six goals, including four in the game's first 11 minutes, as the Dukes jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the 15:37 mark of the first half. Decker added three assists for a game-high nine points and five draw controls before she was disqualified midway through the second half by her second yellow card of the game.

After the Dukes quick outburst, Mason settled down and scored the game's next four goals to pull within 7-4 at the 3:09 mark of the first stanza. Patriots' junior Brandi Evans (Fort Howard, Md./Sparrows Point) scored the first two goals of Mason's 4-0 run, which ended with JMU freshman Monica Buck's goal on an assist from Decker at the 2:49 mark. The Dukes, who improved to 14-3 overall on the season, quickly added three more tallies in less than a minute and owned a 10-4 lead at intermission.

Madison built a 13-5 lead six minutes into the second half, before the Patriots' once again responded with a 4-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 13-9 with 19:31 remaining in the game. Free position markers from sophomore Sarah Bryant (Fairfax Station, Va./W.T. Woodson), senior Stacy Berger (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) and junior Tracy Waterson (Niskayuna, N.Y./Colonie Central) assisted in the spree.

The Patriots missed an opportunity to pull within three when an Evans' shot from seven yards out beat JMU goalkeeper Livvy King, but caromed off the left post. Following Mason's run, JMU netted five of the game's next six goals over a six-minute span to extend its advantage to 18-10 with 7:31 left to play. Patriot freshmen Melissa Venturi (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) and Jess Shelton (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) combined to score the game's final three goals to close the margin to 18-13 at the 2:40 mark. Mason was unable to pull any closer.

Junior goalkeeper Meg Dentler (Crofton, Md./Arundel) stopped 10 shots for the Patriots. King made seven saves in net for the Dukes before junior Amy Altig came on to earn six stops in the final 23 minutes.

Waterson led the George Mason off the bench with four points on three goals and an assist, while classmate Kristy Manas (Harwood, Md./Southern) contributed a goal and two assists. Venturi also came off the bench to post a career-high three goals in the contest. Freshman Kelly Berger added four goals for James Madison.

JMU advances to Sunday's CAA title game at 1 p.m. where they fill face third-seeded William and Mary.

The Patriots drop to 7-9 overall and close out the season at nationally-ranked Maryland Sunday, May 9, at 12 p.m.