HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – Two first-half goals helped Virginia Tech defeat the James Madison women’s soccer team in its first home game Sunday night at Sentara Park.

The Hokies improved their record to 2-0 this season, while the Dukes evened their record at 1-1 after playing in front of 787 fans, the program’s third-largest crowd at Sentara Park.

Goals from Samantha DeGuzman and Maysen Nelson put JMU behind 2-0 early, and although VT only had three shots on goal in the second half, JMU was held to just five for the entire game. Senior forward Amanda Attanasi was JMU’s best player with three total shots on goal and scored both of the team’s shots. Redshirt freshman Sofia DeCerb blocked five shots in the loss.

How it happened
• The Hokies were awarded an early penalty in the fourth minute, but DeCerb made her first save to keep the game scoreless.
• The Hokies put JMU under pressure early, leading to their first goal by DeGuzman in the ninth minute.
• Attanasi attacked Virginia Tech’s goal twice in the following minutes, sending two headers that were both blocked.
• Tech’s second goal came on another blocked shot that Nelson deflected into the net in the 31st minute.
• Early in the second half, redshirt senior Lexi Vanderlinden pressured the Hokies’ defense with a shot that bounced off the goal post.
• The Dukes managed to even out possession for the remainder of the period, but were only able to get off a single shot as Tech’s defense held firm until the end.

Quick Facts
• With 787 fans, today’s game was the third most attended women’s soccer game at Sentara Park.

Quote from Head Coach Joshua Walters, Sr.
“You can only learn from a game like this and move on. I like the character and the theme was shown in the second half, but we have to figure out how to show more courage under pressure in the future.”

Next
The Dukes return to Sentara Park on Thursday, August 22nd for a game against La Salle at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

— JMU Athletics —