Maryland Pours it On, Emily Evans Saves Day for JMU

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — When Maddie Epke scored to give James Madison the lead in the final minutes of an NCAA tournament first-round game against Penn State, there was still much anxiety on the Dukes’ sideline.  

The teams spent the afternoon trading goals, and it was never entirely clear which would be the last team standing at the final whistle.

Penn State had a chance to tie the score on the final possession, but a shot by Gretchen Gilmore was stopped by Dukes’ backup goalie Emily Evans, a freshman, at point-blank range with 24 seconds left.

EMILY EVANS AT THE DOORSTEP. 🧱@JMULacrosse’s back-up goalie SAVES THE SAY. 

DUKES WIN 14-13 pic.twitter.com/dx6xPDtfhu

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 10, 2024

James Madison held on for a 14-13 victory on Friday at Maryland’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.

“I thought it was a great game of lacrosse,” James Madison coach Shelley Klaes said. “Both teams came ready to play. Both teams made mistakes, and then in the end, it became a goal-a-thon. I was just so impressed with our team’s composure and the ability to stick together despite the ups and downs. In the end, when the game was on the line, we totally stepped up and had individual players making some key plays.”

Epke finished with five goals, while Isabella Peterson and Taylor Marchetti had three goals apiece for James Madison (14-5).

The Dukes play fourth-seeded Maryland, the pod’s host team, on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

Kate Sites scored a career-high four goals, while Hannah Leubecker and Kori Edmondson added hat tricks for the Terrapins, who advanced with a 17-1 victory over Robert Morris.

It was a strategic decision by Klaes to pull starting goalie Caitlin Boden for Evans in the third quarter. Evans finished with five saves, and Boden had six.

“We were looking to compete, and I didn’t think we were having enough saves,” Klaes said. “Emily has been playing really well. She’s a great goalie, and we are looking for anybody to step in and make a play. I thought that Emily did an amazing job today. I trusted that she had what it took, we stuck with her, and in the end, she came up with a huge game-winning save.”

Gilmore had an outstanding game for Penn State (11-8) and finished with seven goals.

“She was awesome,” Penn State coach Missy Doherty said. “She just had the best game of her career. It says a lot about her as a captain and a senior to really put the team on her shoulders.”

Nittany Lions goalie Sydney Manning, who was the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year, finished with 14 saves.

Penn State came out firing in the second half, and goals by Lauren Saltz, Kayla Abernathy and Gilmore tied the score at 9 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

After Kaitlyn Carney and Kacey Knobloch scored to give James Madson a two-goal cushion, Kelly MacKinney answered for the Nittany Lions, who trailed 11-10 heading into the final quarter.

After Gilmore gave Penn State a 13-12 lead with 6:54 left in the game, Marchetti and Epke answered. Then, it was Evans who came up with the biggest play of the day. 

“I play for all of those girls on the team,” Evans said. “I try to go in and do my best. All the personnel were giving me the confidence to stay in the game.” 

It was the 37th all-time meeting between James Penn Madison and Penn State. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 22-15.

In the first game of the afternoon, Maryland played without goalie Emily Sterling, who had the fifth-best save percentage (.526) nationally and led the Big Ten in saves per game (9.8) during the regular season. Maryland coach Cathy Reese said Sterling was dealing with an undisclosed injury and did not know if she would be ready to play Sunday.

Senior Julia Hammerschlag made her first career start in her 40th career game and finished with eight saves on nine shots on goal.

“Really, really proud of her,” Reese said about Hammerschlag. “She hasn’t had too many opportunities to get out there. We spent a lot of time this week about doing your job and being ready when your name is called. There is no better example of that than Julia today.”

Jenna Irwin pulled Robert Morris (8-12) to within 5-1 on a free position goal with 13:42 left in the half. It was the Colonials’ first-ever NCAA tournament goal after losing to top-seeded Notre Dame 16-0 in 2021.

Sydney Riker’s eight saves led the Colonials, who advanced to the NCAA tournament as the Mid-American Conference champions.

It was the Terrapins’ largest margin of victory in an NCAA tournament game since a 20-4 victory over Colgate in 2009. 

It was also the fewest goals Maryland (13-5) allowed in the tournament since a 6-1 win over New Hampshire in 1980.