‘I wouldn’t want any other girl in goal.’ JMU’s Buchanan earns praise from teammates, coaching staff

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WHSV) - Although the James Madison women’s lacrosse team saw it’s season come to end on Thursday against Syracuse, the bright spot was the play of their goalkeeper Kat Buchanan.

The senior made nine saves and kept the Dukes within striking distance for a majority of the game against the second-ranked scoring offense in the country.

It wasn’t just Thursday though. Buchanan has been a rock for the JMU defense all season. Unfortunately, when the Syracuse offense did score, the JMU offense wasn’t able to keep up.

“I let in some of the ones I should’ve had and made some of the ones I shouldn’t have had,” said Buchanan.

JMU head coach Shelley Klaes described Buchanan’s performance as, “exceptional.”

“She’s completely blown out of the park what she could’ve done for us in this one year,” said Klaes. “I thought that in a lot of moments where they had an easy look, Kat saved the day.”

Buchanan’s teammate, Isabella Peterson, was asked what the goalkeeper means to the team and the senior attacker got emotional.

“I’m really proud of her. She’s worked really, really hard over the summer out of season and in-season to earn that starting spot,” said Peterson. “I wouldn’t want any other girl in goal. She’s amazing. She definitely pushes me in the attack to be the best we can be and I think she’s pushed our attack to be a lot better this year.”

Buchanan points her successful season back to players like Peterson.

“I’m really fortunate that at practice everyday I had Bella shooting at me,” said Buchanan. “It definitely helps.”

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