In 2016, the University of Indianapolis launched its new NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse program, becoming just the second scholarship program in Indiana, alongside Division I Notre Dame.

Ironically, their first-ever varsity game in that inaugural season was at Lindenwood University’s Hunter Stadium, which would become both an albatross and a pinnacle for the Greyhounds over the next seven seasons. On that first afternoon, Lindenwood, ranked third in the nation at the time, dismantled the UIndy newbies, winning 15-0.

Through seven years, that remains the only shutout loss in program history.

James Delaney wasn’t present for that first game, joining the Greyhounds as an assistant coach prior to the team’s second season in 2017. But he was part of a quick turnaround, as UIndy improved from 6-12 in its first season to 13-5 in its second, gaining national recognition as the most improved team in Division II. The Greyhounds were off and running.

With the departure of the program’s first coach prior to the 2018 campaign, UIndy’s administration named Delaney, 25 years old at the time, as the interim head coach for the third season. The Vancouver native, a former three-time USILA All-American midfielder at Seton Hill who finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer, capitalized on his season-long audition for the full-time job.

“I had to grow up pretty quickly and show that I was mature enough to lead the program,” Delaney said.

Following a 16-4 campaign which included the program’s first conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament, the interim tag was dropped.

“James could not have done a better job proving to our administration that he is the right person to lead our women's lacrosse program,” said Sue Willey, UIndy’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics at the time. “There is no doubt in my mind that James Delaney is the right coach for our young program.”

Willey was not the only person with bold and prophetic claims during the announcement of Delaney’s promotion, a popular decision among the players.

“I know I speak for the entire team that we are eager to build off of the success we had in just our third season,” Delaney said that day. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue the journey of building a national championship program here at UIndy.”

Prophetic or not, that championship journey reached its destination last Sunday. Back at Lindenwood’s Hunter Stadium, the Greyhounds hoisted the NCAA trophy following an 11-9 victory over East Stroudsburg.

“UIndy had a lot to offer, from facilities to resources,” Delaney said. “I knew that something good could happen here.”

| CHAMPS! @UIndyWLax | #D2WLAX pic.twitter.com/ZJySwjMc0Z

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) May 22, 2022

By most measures, that’s a meteoric rise in seven years. But not for Delaney, who has led Indianapolis to four straight NCAA tournament appearances and averaged 17.5 victories per year over the last four full seasons, excluding 2020’s COVID-shortened 7-1 campaign.

“It’s been a long road over five years, and it still doesn’t feel real,” Delaney said. “I am just so lucky to coach these girls who are absolute warriors, who battle and put it all on the line to be called national champions. It’s really not easy to chase this dream. As players and coaches, you’ve got to bring the work ethic every day, especially after failing a few times, as we did.”

Delaney’s tenure as head coach coincided with the arrival of two program-changing players in 2018 — attacker Abigail Lagos and midfielder Peyton Romig. As a pair of four-year team captains, they have served as catalysts in UIndy’s ascension.

“How lucky am I that my team leaders are also the hardest workers?” Delaney said. “Those two set the standard every day with their hunger, attitude and relentlessness. Their accolades are off the charts, and yet they want more.”

One of the nation’s top draw specialists, Romig dominated the championship game by corralling 16 draw controls and giving the Greyhounds repeated possessions. A two-time first-team All-American and winner of the 2022 NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, she set a new NCAA record with 259 draw controls in 2022.

Lagos, another two-time first-team All-American, is UIndy’s all-time scoring leader with 213 goals, including a nation-best 93 goals this season. Named the IWLCA’s 2022 Division II national player of the year, the graduate student has one more season of eligibility remaining (she missed the 2019 season due to injury) and could add to her totals next spring.

“I’m not an easy coach to play for,” said Delaney, who admits to a lot of self-imposed pressure to succeed. “We challenge the kids every single day, and they rise above the challenge every day.”

While winning the national championship is the shared and ultimate goal for everyone on the team, Delaney noted that it’s never spoken about on daily basis. The more immediate goal each day is growing and improving as a team.

“All the credit goes to our players who worked so hard to get better one practice at a time,” Delaney said. “We really got better at the defensive end as the year progressed. And we also got better on offense because players like Quinn Malcolm and Sarah Klein emerged as big contributors. That’s a product of hard work.”

One of the other challenges for the Greyhounds last weekend was overcoming the ghost of past visits to Hunter Stadium. Entering this year’s final four, Romig, Lagos and their classmates were 0-3 at the venue over the past five seasons, including twice having their season end on Hunter’s turf field in the NCAA tournament.

“We’ve had some tough losses on this field, and that was kind of in the back of some of our minds,” Lagos said. “We came in with the mindset that we didn’t want to lose again on this field.”

Having many of their lacrosse alums on hand in St. Charles gave the Greyhounds a needed boost and spoke volumes about the culture that Delaney has created within the program.

“We had so many friends, families, alumni and even athletes from some of UIndy’s other teams that made the trip to Missouri,” he said. “Having all those people there makes a difference in a close game. The alumni are so connected to us and feel like a part of what happened. It made it more special.”

Now, over a week after reaching the mountaintop, the championship celebrations are starting to slowly fade, but the emotions are still close at hand for Delaney.

“There’s still such a mood of happiness and reflection, but I also get choked up when thinking about all the sacrifices that so many people made,” he said. “There was a lot of belief that this could happen here.”