JMU Flies to West Coast for NCAA First Round Against Stanford

-- NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship First Round -- James Madison vs. #9 Stanford Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum \| Los Angeles, Calif. Friday, May 13, 2016 \| 3 p.m. (PT) / 6 p.m. (ET)
10-9 (5-1 CAA) Game Notes @JMULacrosse \| #CaliDukes JMUSports.com	14-4 (8-1 MPSF) Game Notes @StanfordWLAX GoStanford.com
\| Live Stats \| Live Video \| NCAA Bracket \|

THE GAME

JMU flies to the West Coast for the first round of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship in Los Angeles against ninth-ranked Stanford.
The game will be hosted by fifth-ranked USC and played at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The winner advances to Sunday's second round to face the Women of Troy.

SERIES HISTORY

This is the sixth meeting all-time between JMU and Stanford, and the Dukes hold a 3-2 lead in a series dating back to 2007.
Friday marks the second time the Dukes and Cardinal will meet in the NCAA Championship as JMU beat Stanford 9-8 in the first round of the 2010 tournament.
JMU won the first three meetings in the series (2007, 2008, 2010) while SU has claimed the last two outings (2012, 2013). Four of the five games in the series have been decided by one goal.

MAKING HISTORY

JMU's matchup with Stanford Friday will be a first for the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship. It will be the tournament's inaugural first-round game to ever be played on the West Coast.
The venue is as historic as it gets as the LA Coliseum is home to the USC football program and temporary home to the NFL's Los Angeles Rams for the next three years. With a seating capacity of over 93,000, the LA Coliseum has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1932 and 1984, and the proposed site should Los Angeles host the 2024 Olympics.
It was also the stadium which hosed the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1967, which would later be named Super Bowl I.

SCOUTING STANFORD

The Cardinal enters Friday's first round with a 14-4 overall record and 8-1 mark in the MPSF. Stanford was runner-up in both the MPSF regular season and tournament, dropping a pair of games to USC.
Stanford is making its seventh NCAA Championship appearance and for the sixth time in seven years. The Cardinal is 2-6 all-time in the tournament, which includes a 1-2 record at neutral sites.
Seven Cardinal were honored with all-MPSF accolades this season, including Rookie of the Year Anna Salemo. Stanford's First Team All-MPSF selections included Adrienne Anderson, Meg Lentz, Kelly Myers and Kelsey Murray.
Anderson is Stanford's primary man-to-man marker against foes' top-offensive threats, producing 29 ground balls, 15 caused turnovers and 12 draw controls. Lentz led the team with 33 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers while ranking second with 43 draw controls. Myers was third on the team in scoring with 29 goals and three assists and the top draw-control specialists, winning 49. Murray led the Cardinal in scoring with 42 goals and 24 assists during the year. Salemo was the team's second-leading scorer with 31 tallies and eight helpers.

JMU HISTORY AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

The Dukes are making their 13th appearance in the NCAA Championship this weekend and it is the fourth time JMU has received an at-large bid for the national tournament.
Madison is 7-12 (.368) all-time in the NCAA Championship, which included a trip to the 2000 Final Four in Ewing, N.J. This is the second straight year the Dukes will play their first-round matchup on a neutral field as they played USC at Duke in Durham, N.C. last season.
It is the third time JMU faces off with a West Coast school and the second time against Stanford. The Dukes rallied past Stanford 9-8 in the first round of the 2010 tournament in Harrisonburg. That was also JMU's last NCAA win.

WINNER GETS UNBEATEN USC

The winner of the Friday's game advances to Sunday's second round to take on fifth-ranked and undefeated USC. The Women of Troy are 19-0, which is tied for the MPSF record in victories in a single season.
USC won both the MPSF regular-season and tournament titles, beating JMU's first-round opponent, Stanford, to claim both.
USC's last loss came in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Championship at Duke. That game came after the Women of Troy's 13-10 win against JMU in the first round in Durham, N.C.

-- NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship First Round -- James Madison vs. #9 Stanford Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum \| Los Angeles, Calif. Friday, May 13, 2016 \| 3 p.m. (PT) / 6 p.m. (ET)
10-9 (5-1 CAA) Game Notes @JMULacrosse \| #CaliDukes JMUSports.com	14-4 (8-1 MPSF) Game Notes @StanfordWLAX GoStanford.com
\| Live Stats \| Live Video \| NCAA Bracket \|

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