New York Bound! Second-Half Surge Pushes JMU Past Florida to Advance to NCAA Semifinals

Saturday, May 19

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

20-1

Florida

17-4

Florida

James Madison

New York Bound! Second-Half Surge Pushes JMU Past Florida to Advance to NCAA Semifinals

5/19/2018 5:39:00 PM | Lacrosse

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Third-seeded James Madison used a 7-1 run in the second half and a solid defensive effort to advance to the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinals, downing sixth-seeded Florida 11-8 on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinal round at Sentara Park.

The Dukes improved to 20-1 on the year and will play in the national semifinals for the second time in school history and for the first time since 2000. The Gators saw their season end at 17-4, as the Dukes picked up their first-ever win against Florida.

After a defensive struggle in the first half, in which JMU led 4-3 at the break, Florida scored two quick goals to grab a 5-4 lead just over two minutes into the second stanza.

JMU responded by scoring seven of the next eight goals over a 17-minute span to take an 11-6 lead with just over eight minutes to play. UF drew to within three late, but a Gator turnover and offside call in the final two minutes solidified the win for the Dukes.

Senior attacker Kristen Gaudian scored three goals, while junior attacker Hanna Haven tied for game-high honors with four points off two goals and two assists. Senior midfielder Elena Romesburg and senior attacker Morgan Hardt each scored twice, and senior attacker Katie Kerrigan had a goal and an assist.

Defensively, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Molly Dougherty made nine saves with two ground balls to improve to 12-0 between the pipes this year. Three Dukes had a pair of caused turnovers in Romesburg, senior Corinne Schmidt and sophomore Emma Johnson while junior Caroline Sdanowich collected a game-best five ground balls.

JMU out-shot Florida 33-27 (23-17) and held advantages in caused turnovers (10-4) and ground balls (21-13) while committing just nine turnovers on the afternoon. Florida won 13 of 21 draw controls, but were forced into 16 turnovers.

The Gators were led Lindsey Ronbeck, who had three goals and an assist, and Grace Haus, who registered three goals. Sabrina Cristodero also won a game-high six draws, and Haley Hicklen made 12 stops in goal, including 10 in the first half.

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JMU advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals in front of 785 fans on Saturday - the second-largest lacrosse crowd in venue history.

PERFECTION AT HOME
JMU completed the home slate without a loss this season, going 12-0, including a 4-0 mark during the CAA and NCAA postseason. The Dukes had four nationally-ranked home wins at Sentara Park this year, which included the season opener against North Carolina (15-14 OT), as well as Penn State (14-12), Towson (16-10) and Florida (11-8).

DUKES RETURN TO FINAL FOUR FOR FIRST TIME IN 18 YEARS
JMU will make its second national semifinal appearance in school history next weekend, and the first since 2000. It's the first semifinal berth for Head Coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe, as this was her second time coaching in the quarterfinals (2010).

CENTURY MARK HIT FOR KERRIGAN
With one assist in the quarterfinal, Katie Kerrigan reached the 100-assist plateau for her career. She's the third player in school history to reach 100 assists, joining Monica Zabel (121 – 2009-12) and Megan Riley (109 – 1996-99). That mark also ranks sixth in CAA history and she is two shy of the CAA single-season record, as she has 53 helpers in 2018 (55 is record).

UP NEXT
Third-seeded JMU faces second-seeded North Carolina on Friday, May 25 in the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship. That game will be played at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y. Game time will either be at 5 or 7:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.

In the other semifinal, top-seeded Maryland will play fourth-seeded Boston College in a rematch of last year's national title game.