The Richmond field hockey team beat the James Madison University Dukes Sunday afternoon, recording its second consecutive shutout victory at Crenshaw Field. Sophomore Amy Cooke scored the game's only goal with a penalty stroke 18 minutes into the first half.
The Spiders added a second win to their season total with the 1-0 victory, and are now on a two-game win streak after Saturday's shutout against Davidson. The Spiders' four losses this season were all against current nationally ranked teams.
"The loss to UVA was very physically and mentally demanding," said junior vice-captain Rebecca Barry. "But we won yesterday and today and we're going to keep building on this weekend."
Cooke's goal came after a struggle for the ball in front of the JMU net. The ball appeared to be going into the goal before hitting a JMU player's foot, which earned Cooke the free stroke. She put a knee-high shot past the right side of JMU goalie Stephanie Tarafas.
The game was aggressive from the beginning, and in the 39th minute, Barry and JMU's Sam Smiertka both received green cards. Later in the game, Richmond sophomore Taylor Deitrick received a green card and freshman Kelly Quinn got a yellow card with seven minutes to play.
JMU managed 12 shots against Richmond's seven, and beat the Spiders six to zero in penalty corners. "We knew JMU was a tough and physical team, and we had to grit it out for the second half," Barry said.
The Dukes' best chance at scoring came after Barry got sidelined for a pushing penalty. JMU junior Taylor West juggled the ball past two Richmond defenders and dished the ball to freshman Robin De Bruyne who could not get a solid stick on it.
"I'm really pleased that we were able to execute our tactical plan," Richmond head coach Gina Lucido said. "We've played four games in eight days, and we knew it was going to be a battle. The key was staying disciplined throughout the whole game, and when you're fatigued it's easy for that to go out the window.
"I was so impressed with their ability to stick to our game plan. I think their ability to have such mental fortitude is really powerful. That's what's going to bring us an A-10 championship back here."
The Spiders will play their next game in New York against Hofstra on Sept. 20.
Contact reporter Clay Helms at clay.helms@richmond.edu
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