STONY BROOK, N.Y. — The word of the day for the James Madison women’s lacrosse team was “surreal.”
A surreal experience. A surreal performance. A surreal ending.
The third-seeded Dukes started early and finished late, besting second-seeded North Carolina, 15-12, in the NCAA semifinals Friday night at Stony Brook’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
A 3-0 start, four first-half goals from Haley Warden and three second-half goals from Tewaaraton finalist Kristen Gaudian were just a handful of the defining moments for a JMU team that isn’t ready to shed the chip on its shoulder.
“I think that most people didn’t think that we’d come out on top in this last game,” said Warden, who also won 10 draws against UNC’s Marie McCool. “I think that we still are the underdogs in every situation, and we’re going to keep playing to that.”
For a group of self-proclaimed underdogs, the Dukes don’t play like longshots. A little disrespect has done plenty to fuel their fire.
They never trailed against UNC, a team they also beat in a dramatic overtime thriller in early February. Now, it’s on to the first national championship game in program history against the Maryland-Boston College winner.
“We’re really proud to be sitting there as winners in this game,” said coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe, who also played at JMU and coached at Hofstra, located roughly 40 miles away from LaValle. “Clearly, it’s the first time that our program makes it to a national championship, and we really feel like we’ve earned this from the start of the year.”
The manner in which JMU has gotten to this point is nothing short of impressive. There’s no better example than in the first half, when UNC freshman defender Kayla Wood held Gaudian without a point.
That led to players like Warden (five goals) and Hanna Haven (three goals) picking up the slack, and the Dukes didn’t skip a beat. When UNC shifted off the faceguard in the second half, Gaudian capitalized to send her team to the final.
For her, it was always about putting JMU on the map.
“I mean, it’s so surreal,” she said. “It’s just an incredible feeling that I’ve always dreamed about doing. This season has just been an incredible ride for us seniors … We’re finally making a name for ourselves.”
Klaes-Bawcombe’s goal has always been to get JMU, ranked No. 17 in the nation in the preseason, to the pinnacle of the lacrosse world. She cited facilities, academics and recruiting, among other reasons, as to why the Dukes deserve respect.
“People just don’t remember JMU because it’s easy to forget,” she said. “I think that, credit to our program, for continuing to fight and to be willing to continue to do the work to prove it … We have everything that we need as an institution to win big in the sport of lacrosse.”
Rebecca Tooker, of nearby Eastport, had a large cheering section watch her lead a defense that stifled UNC’s dynamic offense. The Dukes’ impenetrable zone is just one of the many reasons why Tooker has a chance to play one more game in her career. She said she always dreamt of a moment like this.
And again, there’s that word “surreal.”
“I always tell a lot of people that I was here a couple years ago, in the stands, watching [Northwestern], and I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that’d be really cool if it came back and I took a team to this area.’ I’m still getting chills,” Tooker said. “It’s surreal that I’m on Long Island, I’m with my team, I’m with my family.”
She clarified, saying that JMU is just as much her family as those that were there in attendance, and perhaps it’s that bond that has the Dukes poised to shock the nation.
It wouldn’t be shocking to them, of course. The Dukes have shown their mettle game in and game out, overcoming deficits and blistering past teams some thought they had no business competing against.
Even if a national title isn’t in the cards this season, it’s safe to say James Madison has done what it set out to do – put its program on the national radar.
It’s been a ride that one can only describe as surreal.