HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 19 Elon University women's lacrosse opened Colonial Athletic Association play on Friday afternoon, April 7, with a 14-5 loss to No. 18 James Madison at Sentara Park.
 
The loss hands Elon back-to-back defeats for the first time this season with the Phoenix now standing at 8-4 on the year and 0-1 in the CAA. JMU moves to 8-5 on the year and is 2-0 in CAA action with victories over Elon and Towson, the two teams selected in the preseason poll to finish in the top three in the league with the Dukes.
 
Five Phoenix scored a goal apiece with Stephanie Asher's two points leading the way thanks to a goal and an assist. Nicole Sinacori, Melissa Birdsell, Abby Godfrey and Shelby Scanlin each also scored in the contest. In the cage, Rachel Ramirez made nine saves and tied with Godfrey for a team high three ground balls. Godfrey, Ramirez, Melanie McHugh and Alexis Zadjura combined for all eight of Elon's caused turnovers with each player earning two.
 
The Dukes were led by Kristen Gaudian's four goals. Both Leah Monticello and Katie Kerrigan scored three while Kerrigan added two assists and Monticello one. Kerrigan also finished with two ground balls and two draw controls. Elena Romesburg scored a goal and had a team high five ground balls. Haley Warden grabbed four ground balls and took a game high five draw controls.
 
The Rundown
With winds blowing around Sentara Park all afternoon, Elon and JMU both got off to slow starts with the game 1-1 through the first 19 minutes of action. The Dukes got on the board first with a goal from Gaudian nearly seven minutes in, but Elon and Sinacori tied it up with 15:25 to go in the first half. On the goal, Sinacori took on two defenders eight yards from goal on the left side of the cage and beat both JMU defenders by deking away from goal before splitting the two and getting an open shot on target.
 
Elon did take a 2-1 lead with 10:53 left in the first half when Asher notched her lone goal of the day on a free position shot. JMU answered with a 3-0 run to end the first half, the final goal coming as time expired in the first half to lead 4-2 headed to the locker room.
 
Out of the break, JMU extended the run to 4-0 before Birdsell ended the streak and made it 5-3 with 20:48 to play. But with the game hanging in the balance, JMU took control in scoring nine of the game's next 10 goals to go up 14-4 before Scanlin tallied in the final minute to cut the margin to single digits.
 
Notes
- Elon is now 1-2 in CAA openers all-time. It's lone win came last year, a 5-4 victory in overtime against Delaware. The previous year, Elon fell to Towson, 12-2.
- Stephanie Asher's goal put her at 40 goals on the year. She is the only player to have scored 40 or more goals in a single season in program history, doing so twice. She netted the program record 44 in 2015 as a freshman.
- JMU's 10 second-half goals ties North Carolina on March 14 for the most in a half against the Phoenix this season. Elon's two first-half goals ties for the fewest in a game this season. The Phoenix also scored two in the first half against North Carolina.
 
Up Next
Elon will turn around quickly with a third-straight matchup against a ranked team when it battles No. 14 Towson on Sunday afternoon, April 9. Opening draw is set for 12 p.m. in Maryland. Towson has won all three battles between the two teams thus far, but both meetings last season were decided by just two goals.