Tweet

GAME NOTES

BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech lacrosse team will face No. 20 James Madison in Harrisonburg on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. at University Park.

Tech will be trying to keep its three-game winning streak alive and is looking for the program's first victory against JMU. The Hokies (3-1) are also currently receiving votes for the Inside Lacrosse Women's Division I Top 20 Media Poll.

THE HOKIES

Virginia Tech is facing James Madison for the 14th time in series history and looking for its first win against the Dukes.

The Hokies defeated Liberty at home in their last outing 7-4. With the win, Tech has won three straight games with wins over Gardner-Webb, Davidson and Liberty. The Hokies have won those games by a combined score of 34-13.

The Hokies and Dukes met last year in Blacksburg as JMU won 13-8. Gracee Hendrix scored two goals in the loss while Tristan McGinley, Meghan Macera and Jessi Thon each scored one goal.

Against Liberty, Thon led the Hokies as she had a team-high three goals and added an assist. Tristan McGinley had two goals and one assist to go along with three ground balls. Meghan Macera led a stingy Tech defense and caused a team-high seven turnovers and picked up eight ground balls. Hannah Sieger made six saves in the cage for Tech.

This season, the Hokies have outshot their opponents 92-54 overally and outscored them 40-25. Tech is averaging 23 shots per game and limiting opponents to just 13.5 a contest.

THE DUKES

James Madison is coming off a 11-7 loss to No. 2 North Carolina on Feb .6 in their season-opener. The Dukes have had almost two weeks off between their first two games this season.

Against UNC, JMU trailed 10-4 at halftime before staging a comeback and outscoring the Tar Heels in the second half 3-1. The Dukes were led by senior midfielder Jaci Gordon, who tallied a team-best three points on two goal and an assist. Leah Monticello added one goal and one assist. JMU’s other goal scorers were Elena Romesburg, Taylor Gress, Kristen Gaudian and Brooks Lawler.

The Dukes won the CAA title in 2015 after going 15-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play and earned a bid to the 2015 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. JMU fell to Southern California 13-10 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Dukes were picked to repeat as CAA Champions in 2016 and four players were named to the preseason All-CAA team. Senior midfielder Jaci Gordon was named CAA Preseason Player of the Year after scoring 40 goals and having 22 assists last season. Also on the All-CAA team are seniors Betsy Angel, Taylor Gress and Brooks Lawler. Angel was a second team selection scored 49 goals and had 21 assists last season.

For updates on Virginia Tech lacrosse, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Lax