COLLEGE PARK, Md. (JMU Athletics) – Tied 2-2 early in the fourth quarter, Brynna Hill connected with Alice Roeper who spun around the Villanova goalkeeper for the game winner in a 3-2 season-opening victory over the Wildcats on Friday at Maryland’s Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
The Dukes (1-0, 0-0 MAC) have been victorious in seven consecutive season openers and have won four of their last five games outside of Harrisonburg.
Freshman Puck Jansen scored the game’s opening goal on the first shot of her collegiate career. In her first game back since September 2024, Madelief Molier found the back of the net on a tip-in during a penalty corner. Roeper finished with one goal and one assist for three points, while Hill and Jola Ollrogge both recorded a pair of helpers in the win. Netminder Molly Schreiner rejected two shots for her 11th career victory as the Dukes limited Villanova to four shots on goal.
Ava Borkowski, a Preseason All-BIG EAST Team selection, notched both goals for the Wildcats and accounted for five of Villanova’s 11 shots. Goalkeeper Maddi Sears stopped four shots, facing five JMU penalty corners.
Quoting Head Coach Christy Morgan
“Through all of the adversity, we persevered and came out on top. No electricity, no water on the field and no scoreboard, to no one’s fault. Villanova is a good team. I’m happy about the win, we just have to be better. Thank you to the JMU parents for their amazing support – they were the 12th woman on the field!”
How It Happened
• Just under five minutes into the contest, the Dukes converted on a penalty corner with the insertion from Hill, a stop by Ollrogge and the shot and score from Jansen.
• JMU doubled its lead on another corner, this time finished by Molier with a deflection off assists from Roeper and Ollrogge to make it 2-0 at the 4:35 mark of the second.
• Villanova responded with an unassisted strike from Borkowski with under three minutes remaining in the frame to trail 2-1 at the break.
• Borkowski found the equalizer with 29 seconds left in the frame to tie the game at 2-2. Moments later, Villanova was awarded a penalty stroke which was thwarted by Schreiner to keep the game tied going into the fourth.
• Hill found Roeper for the gamewinner, with the captain spinning around Sears for the strike.
Game Notes
• The Dukes held an advantage in shots on goal (7-4) and penalty corners (5-2).
• Villanova’s two corners were the fewest by a JMU opponent since it held Ball State to two in Muncie, Ind. on Oct. 27, 2024.
• Today’s game marked the first time JMU saw multiple players register multiple assists since Mia Julian and Carissa Tambroni both added a pair at William & Mary on Aug. 25, 2023.
• Meanwhile, the Dukes’ five assists are the most by the team since producing five versus Bellarmine on Oct. 18, 2024.
Up Next
JMU will have a quick turnaround as they finish the Conference Cup against Stanford on Sunday, Aug. 31. Game time is slated for 11 a.m.
— JMU Athletics —
