After missing the first month of the season with a knee injury, Annie Lowry was able to finish a strong freshman season with the James Madison University women's soccer team.

Now, with an NCAA playoff berth at hand, the Butler High grad is hoping her team will also enjoy a second chance.

After a 2-1 overtime loss to top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in the Colonial Athletic Conference semifinals last week, the season appeared to be over for the Dukes.

"We already cleaned out our lockers," said Lowry. "Then we heard from the selection show that we received an at-large berth."

The team will face the University of Virginia - ranked No. 3 in the nation - at 5 p.m. today. James Madison played the Cavaliers (16-2-2) on Oct. 12, but lost 5-0.

The playoff opportunity gives the Dukes (11-7-3) the chance to play again, much the same as Lowry did after the tough start to her freshman campaign.

"We were in Canada for the pre-season, and in the last game I hyperextended my knee," said Lowry.

"I was out for a lot of time, almost four weeks," she added.

"We had very high expectations for Annie," said Dukes coach Dave Lombardo. "We had Annie at our camp between her junior and senior year and knew she was a talented player. You wouldn't be a high school All-American and not have those qualities.

"Annie will tell you she struggled early. The knee injury hampered her and it had taken a while to make the transition.

"She had a breakthrough during the middle of the season and came through like gangbusters," Lombardo added.

Lowry was named CAA Rookie of the Week recently when she scored two goals in a 2-0 win over Delaware Oct. 28, then followed up with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over Towson (Md.) Oct. 30.

Lowry's four goals and four assists made her the team's third-leading scorer with 12 points behind sophomore Sarah Cebulski (6-6-18) and freshman Melanie Shaffer (6-4-16), who is from Hampton High School.

Kim Argy, the team's leading scorer the past two years, suffered a season-ending knee injury a month into the season, forcing the team to rely on the younger players to contribute.

"Annie's confidence was building. You could see it," said Lombardo. "She got her chances. She'd get 10 to 15 minutes a half, then 20 minutes a half.

"She was taking people on. She can crush the ball with either foot. She was passing up on that. It's a rite of passage to defer to others.

"She has confidence in her ability. She looks around and can say 'I know I belong. I should be starting,'" Lombardo added.

Lowry certainly has the experience. She tallied 84 goals and 38 assists in her high school career, and, aside from earning All-American honors, she was one of five girls in Western Pennsylvania participating in the U-19 Olympic Development Program.

"I definitely was disappointed at the beginning of the season," said Lowry. I think we won our last six games until we lost to VCU in the semis.

"We really started working together and we were healthy again," Lowry added.

Now, the Dukes will enter the NCAA tournament for the seventh time in the past 10 years.

Virginia will be a formidable foe, but the task is not daunting.

"We feel confident and feel we have nothing to lose," said Lowry. "They're the ones that have everything to lose."