Jacksonville coach John Galloway knew the Dolphins were heading in the right direction after matching a school record with eight victories last season.

But building projects — especially at programs still finding their footing, as Jacksonville is in its 10th season in Division I — aren’t always even. And there was always the possibility of a noticeable step backward.

“I think we knew this team was maybe more talented,” Galloway said. “Our concern was starting two freshmen on close defense, two freshmen on attack, three of our four short sticks are freshmen. Our concern was how quickly would these guys grow up and would they start to lose their confidence a bit? … And they proved us wrong. They stayed on course, and we had young players making timely plays on Saturday.”

That’s when the Dolphins (3-6, 2-0 Southern) scored their first victory ever over a ranked team, upending High Point 12-10 after a series of near-misses in the early portion of the schedule.

While Jacksonville didn’t win outside the league beyond a 19-12 drubbing of Drexel, it was plenty feisty against an imposing schedule. The Dolphins lost by two to Marquette, led Michigan in the fourth quarter before dropping a one-goal decision and badgered Towson in a 15-13 loss earlier this month.

“Part of what we’ve done in the first three years is to schedule a highly touted out-of-conference schedule,” Galloway said. “The goal was to put ourselves in a position to win a top-10 game, and being able to play teams like Penn State and Duke and Towson gave us a chance to win one of those games. The fact it came in a conference game means that much more and shows that the SoCon is improving year in and year out.”

Now comes the challenge of maintaining quality play after such a high, a new and welcome challenge for Jacksonville. Next up is Saturday’s trip to Air Force, followed by an April 6 date at home against Richmond.

A guy to keep on eye on as the Dolphins chase their first NCAA tournament berth is Jack Dolan, who has 20 goals and 14 assists on the season — with 15 goals and 12 assists coming in the last five games.

 “He is a sophomore that nobody knows about and is becoming less of a well-kept secret,” Galloway said. “I hope he gets some recognition sooner rather than later because I think he’ll be a special player.”