Dukes Take Three Major Awards, Nine All-Conference Selections in The American Postseason Honors

Dukes Take Three Major Awards, Nine All-Conference Selections in The American Postseason Honors

IRVING, Texas – James Madison lacrosse earned a trio of major awards from the American Athletic Conference, while nine starters were selected to the 2023 All-Conference team in the conference's postseason awards, as announced on Wednesday.

Among the league's major awards, redshirt junior Isabella Peterson was named The American Attack Player of the Year, redshirt senior Mairead Durkin claimed Defensive Player of the Year and the JMU coaching staff of Shelley Klaes, Kateri Linville, Colleen Shearer and Matt Snyder were voted Coaching Staff of the Year.

Peterson and Durkin were also unanimously named to the First Team, joined by another unanimous selection in senior Tai Jankowski, while redshirt senior Rachel Matey also made the First Team. Redshirt seniors Kat Buchanan and Lizzy Fox, redshirt junior Taylor Marchetti, junior Katelyn Morgan and freshman Maddie Epke all made the Second Team.

The Dukes' nine All-Conference selections were tied for the most amongst any team in the league.

Peterson established herself as the league's premier attacker, scoring 70 goals and adding 18 assists for a total of 88 points throughout the regular season. She had 14 hat tricks and scored five or more goals on eight occasions. She was also key in the draw circle, with 73 draw controls, including seven performances of at least six draws. She leads the league in both goals per game (4.12) and points per game (5.18) and is sixth in draw controls per outing (4.29).

Nationally, she ranks third in Division I in goals and points. Peterson gained national recognition as a 2023 Tewaaraton Award nominee and the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division I Player of the Week on Feb. 28. League-wide, she won five Attacker of the Week honors. She also set the all-time JMU goals record, reaching 202 back on April 29.

Durkin has led one of the best defenses in the country, as the Dukes have allowed just 7.18 goals per game, the third-best mark in Division I. Individually, she has 40 caused turnovers, good for tops in The American, to go with 26 ground balls, which ranks 10th. She has caused multiple turnovers in 13 games this season.

The Stony Point, N.Y., native has received two Defensive Player of the Week awards in addition to her first ever selection as a Tewaaraton Award nominee. Durkin also sits as JMU's all-time leader in career caused turnovers, with 128. She broke the program record back on April 23.

Jankowski has put up a career season on attack, shattering career-highs with 48 goals and 20 assists. She has posted 10 hat tricks, including one in each of her last four games to close the regular season. Her play from the free position has been impressive, converting on 18-of-24 free-position shots, ranking second nationally in free-position percentage (75.0%) and tied for fourth in goals from the eight-meter.

She was named Attack Player of the Week three times by The American and was a Tewaaraton watch list selection in the second round of additions.

A three-year captain, Matey was key on both defense and in the draw circle, gaining 78 draw controls, scooping 35 ground balls and causing 18 turnovers. Her draw control numbers are fifth-best in The American and her ground ball numbers rank 10th. Her play in both the possession game and on defense have helped limit opponents to 21.4 shots per game, giving the Dukes an average of 10 more shots than their opponents per game.

Matey earned AAC Defensive Player of the Week four times and was also a Tewaaraton watch list selection. She became the program leader in career draw controls on April 5 and her 78 draws in 2023 rank sixth in JMU single-season history.

In her first season starting in net, Buchanan produced a .489 save percentage, a 7.39 goals-against average and 110 total saves. Her goals-against average ranks third nationally and her save percentage is 16th. Buchanan also came up with 26 ground balls, tied for second-most on the team. She came up key in two narrow March wins with 10 saves against Maryland and 12 against Virginia, resulting in victories against the No. 5 and No. 12-ranked teams, respectively.

She was named the IWLCA Division I Defensive Player of the Week twice and won two Goalkeeper of the Week awards from The American. Buchanan also became a Tewaaraton watch list selection, making five on the list for JMU in 2023.

Fox, the captain of the midfield, made big plays on both sides of the ball with 14 goals on 25 shots (.560) along with seven caused turnovers and 11 ground balls. She scored a key hat trick against No. 8 Florida on March 18 as JMU put itself in position for the conference regular-season title right away.

Marchetti has scored 16 goals and added five assists to lead JMU's midfield with 21 points. She's added 17 draw controls and picked up 16 ground balls while causing eight turnovers this season. The Forest Hill, Md., native had a hat trick, converting on all three shots against Richmond on April 5.

Morgan finished the regular season as the league leader with 32 assists, averaging 1.88 per game, which ranks 38th in Division I. She set a career high with four assists at Liberty on March 8 and has tied that mark three subsequent times during the regular season. The Marietta, Ga., native has added 18 goals, six ground balls and four caused turnovers.

Epke has started every game as a freshman, making an immediate impact on the attack and the draw. She has scored 10 goals, dished out 24 assists and controlled 56 draws. Epke set a JMU high this season with six assists against High Point on Feb. 25. She is tied for third in The American in assists and is 10th with 3.29 draw controls per game. She was named Freshman of the Week by the league three different times.

The coaching staff, led by Klaes in her 17th season leading JMU, has guided the Dukes to several key accomplishments thus far. JMU won 16 straight games to close the regular season, the longest streak in program history. The Dukes have been ranked as high as No. 4 in the ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll, its best in-season mark since 2018. JMU has defeated five ranked opponents for the second consecutive season, including top-10 victories against both Maryland and Florida.

JMU went 6-0 in league play and romped through opponents to the tune of a +61 overall scoring differential.

The sixth-ranked Dukes begin American Athletic Conference Championship play on Thursday, May 4 with a semifinal matchup against Cincinnati from Temple University in Philadelphia. The Dukes comfortably defeated the Bearcats 17-8 at Sentara Park on April 16.

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