LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine field hockey fought in its home opener on Saturday night, but came up short by a final score of 3-0 versus James Madison.
 
Following a sluggish offensive performance against no. 5 Louisville at Trager Stadium on Friday, the visiting Dukes turned up the offense early, scoring three first half goals.

"Although the result is not what we had hoped for, I was really proud of our possession game tonight," Knights Head Coach Devanny Boisvert said.  "We did such a good job at working the ball up the field, and now we have to buiild the play a little more to be able to execute in the circle.  Even though they scored three goals in the first half, it was some of the prettier field hockey that we've played."

JMU leading goal scorer Diede Remijnse cracked open the scoring late in the first quarter off a penalty corner.  Several minutes into the second, Cassidy Strittmatter pushed the Dukes ahead 2-0 by punching in a shot off a rebound.  Strittmatter struck again in just under five minutes later by deflecting a Mikenna Allen shot into the cage, giving James Madison a 3-0 lead at the half.

Despite three shots in the first period for Bellarmine and some good early looks, the Knights were unable to keep up with James Madison's offense.  The Dukes racked up 29 shots compared to Bellarmine's four and controlled the penalty corner battle 13-2. 

After the three JMU goals in the first half, however, Bellarmine held strong in the third and fourth quarters.  James Madison piled up 14 shots in the second half, but the Knights did not allow a goal over the final thirty minutes. 

Freshman goalkeeper Kailey Workman played the second half for BU and made four saves.  Junior Danni Swallow got the start in goal and totaled six saves.  Grace Dukes added two more defensive saves to her season line, giving her a team-best four on the season, while freshman Madelyn Reed picked up the first defensive save of her career.  Bellarmine had two shots on goal for the day, and both came from Anna Crump.

"JMU is a talented team, and I was happy to see that we competed with them at points throughout the game," Boisvert added.  "Tomorrow is a new day, and I hope we take the positives from today into our game against Indiana."

Bellarmine returns to action tomorrow at Indiana – start time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Bloomington.

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