BOSTON, Mass., Nov. 1, 2009 – Freshman Tori Lindsey (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) connected on a rebound with 6:46 remaining in the second overtime as James Madison defeated Northeastern 3-2 on Sunday afternoon to clinch a spot in the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Championship.

JMU, ranked 11^th in the Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll, improved to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the CAA.  NU, which is receiving votes in the poll, fell to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the league.

With the win, JMU clinched a tie for second in the league standings with #17 Delaware (12-5, 6-2) and will face the Blue Hens in the tournament semifinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  UD will be the second seed by virtue of a 2-1 victory over JMU earlier in the season.  Tenth-ranked Drexel (17-2, 7-1) finished 7-1 to earn hosting privileges and will meet fourth-seeded Hofstra (12-7, 5-3) at noon.  The Dragons defeated Delaware on Sunday 4-2 to earn the top mark.  

Against Northeastern, JMU earned a penalty corner at the 92:34 mark in the second overtime.  The initial shot by junior Dolores de Rooij (Vlaardingen, The Netherlands/Erasmiaans) was saved by Lizzie Priest, but Lindsey collected the rebound and converted her fourth game-winning goal of the season.

Northeastern led the match in shots 20-16 and penalty corners 10-7, but it was JMU earning the opportunities in the overtime sessions with a combined 7-2 edge in shots and 3-0 in corners in the extra periods.

Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Cutchins (Suffolk, Va./Lakeland) recorded eight saves for the Dukes to earn the victory while Priest made six stops for the Huskies.

The other JMU scores came unassisted by de Rooij.  Both de Rooij and Lindsey now share team-high honors with 13 goals for the season.  Lindsey moved into a tie for third in JMU history in both freshman points (27, Ashley Walls 2005) and freshman game-winning goals (4, Veerle Goudswaard 2001).

The match was a 1-1 tie at the half with de Rooij scoring first on a hard shot just inside the circle on the left side in the 17^th minute.  The Huskies tied with five minutes left in the half on a redirection from Allison Conti on the initial shot by Crystal Poland.

NU took the lead in the 48^th minute on an unassisted breakaway goal by Carolyn Malloy.  The 2-1 advantage held until 8:44 remaining when de Rooij struck from the right side with the shot caroming off the post and into the cage.

The Huskies had a pair of quick shots in the first 1:06 of the initial overtime, but the Dukes held NU without another shot from that point forward and finally connected on the seventh attempt in the extra periods.