After No. 9 James Madison scored the first two goals in the opening four minutes of yesterday's game, the No. 1 women's lacrosse team used effective passing and a solid defense to score 15 unanswered goals in a 17-5 victory.

The Lady Lions (8-0) set season bests for first-half goals (13), total score (17) and largest margin of victory (12). Also, Megan Smith's four assists was a season best. The loss was the Dutchesses' (4-3) worst of the season.

"I didn't imagine it," Coach Julie Williams said. "I knew that there was the potential -- I've been waiting to see it all season."

"I really thought it would be a little more difficult," attack Deanna Blood added. "I think what we did today is take them as a ranked team. We were very intense today."

Williams also pointed to the communication between the defensive players as a key to the blowout. The defenders were able to pick up free people at the midfield and made it difficult for James Madison to shoot. Goalie Kay Young also had an exceptional game, recording nine saves.

"Today we were really hungry for the ground balls. And the defense improved and inspired everyone," Williams said.

"Not only did we know what we were doing, but we knew what they were doing also," defender Elena Brazer said.

Penn State's scoring run began at 4:01 into the game. Mary Ann Foley tied the game with first two of her four goals. Karen Hoysted then scooped a ground ball at midfield and sprinted down to the right of JMU's goal. Lobbing the ball high, she found Smith standing in front of the goal. Smith slammed it into the net for Penn State's third goal in under four minutes.

"Today you saw perfect fast breaks that were beautiful," Williams said. "That's what the game's all about: pass, pass, pass and score."

Midfielder Ann Kolongowski assisted Blood for the Lady Lions' fourth goal, and 20 seconds later Faith Sweeney shoveled the ball into the goal to give Penn State a three-goal lead, 5-2.

Smith assisted Blood for the Lady Lions' next score, finding Blood in front of the net amid a group of defenders. After Sweeney scored with 10:29 remaining, Smith once again assisted Blood at 9:44 to increase the score to 8-2.

Foley once again scored back-to-back goals, and then Kolongowski found the net off a pass from Christy Sansone. Hoysted was once again able to bring the ball down the field with her speed, and centered it to Sweeney who put it into the goal for a 12-2 lead. Hoysted then closed the scoring for the first half, putting the ball in the net with 2:03 remaining.

"I couldn't believe it at halftime," Hoysted said. "The first couple of minutes I thought it would be goal for goal, but it wasn't. This wasn't the JMU I've seen from years before."

The second half went by quickly, since the game operated on the 10-goal rule. The rule allows the clock to continue running after a goal is scored once a team has more than a 10-goal advantage.

Kolongowski opened the scoring off an assist from Smith with 23:05 remaining, and Mindy Salamon gave the Lady Lions their biggest lead, 15-2, when she scored off a Foley assist a minute later.

Delaware got its first goal in over 27 minutes when its leading scorer, Nora Maguire, scored with 18:54 remaining. Smith answered with an unassisted goal three minutes later.

The Dutchesses scored back-to-back goals, but they came too late as Sweeney scored the last goal of the game off an assist from Foley to end the scoring at 17-5.

"Our passing today was just exceptional," Smith said. "It is really coming together. Last year, it was usually a one-, two- or three-person game, this year it's a total team effort."

"The offense was real patient," Brazer added. "Everyone did what they have been practicing for."

Foley and Sweeney both had four goals, Blood had three goals and Smith and Kolongowski both had two. Hoysted and Salamon had one goal apiece.