After clinching a Colonial Athletic Association Championship spot in the final seconds of the regular season, James Madison will look to defend its three consecutive league titles this weekend in the four-team tournament at Drexel’s Buckley Field.

The CAA Championship begins with semifinals on Saturday as top-seeded Drexel (17-2, 7-1 CAA) hosts fourth-seeded Hofstra (12-7, 5-3 CAA) at Noon.  Second-seeded Delaware will then face third-seeded JMU at 2:30 p.m.  The winners meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship match.

JMU, ranked 11^th nationally in the Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll, qualified for the tournament with a dramatic victory on Sunday, 3-2 in double overtime, at Northeastern to finish tied for second in the league.  Delaware’s 2-1 head-to-head win at JMU earlier in the season determined that the Blue Hens would wear the home white jerseys on Saturday.

Last Sunday, needing a win to qualify for the championship, JMU traveled to Boston to face Northeastern in both teams’ season finale.  After two overtimes and over 93 minutes of play, the Dukes came out on top 3-2.  Junior Dolores de Rooij netted both regulation goals and freshman Tori Lindsey scored the game-winner with 6:46 remaining on a rebound.  Senior Kelsey Cutchins had eight saves.  

De Rooij and Lindsey finished the regular season tied for the team-lead in goals with 13 while de Rooij holds the narrow lead in points with 28.  Vivienne Konijnendijk holds the team lead with a freshman-record 11 assists.  Cutchins led the league in the regular season in saves per game (5.95), goals against average (1.49), and save percentage (.796).

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

JMU won each of the last three CAA championships, all played at the U.S. National Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va.  Each of the three title games were 1-0 decisions over Old Dominion.  The Dukes have won four total CAA titles, the other coming in 1995.  The only other school to win a CAA title besides JMU or ODU was Delaware in 2005.  The #3 seed for the Dukes is the lowest since entering as the #4 seed in 2005.  Of JMU’s previous four titles, two came as the #1 seed (1995, 2008) and two as the #2 seed (2006, 2007). 

A major reason for JMU’s success in the CAA tournament has been the goalkeeper play of Kelsey Cutchins.  She has played every minute in goal of JMU’s six tournament games over the last three seasons for a total of 422 minutes.  In that span, she has allowed just one goal, which came in last year’s 4-1 win over William and Mary in the semifinals.  The two-time CAA Player of the Year holds a career 0.17 goals against average in the tournament with five shutouts.

CAA TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS

#10 Drexel defeated #16 Delaware 4-2 Sunday to secure the top seed and the right to host the CAA tournament.  The Dragons are led by junior and leading goal scorer Cristina Mastropaolo, whose 27 goals are third in the nation.  Freshman goalkeeper Jenna Phillips has started every game for the Dragons and posted a 1.66 GAA with three shutouts.  On the season, Drexel has outscored its opponents 74-32, outshot its opponents 317-188, and earned more penalty corners 165-117.  Drexel will face Hofstra Saturday in the first round.  Drexel won the meeting earlier this season 7-3 at Hofstra. 

Delaware finished the season 12-5 overall and 6-2 in the conference earning them the #2 seed.  The Blue Hens are led by senior Casey Howard, who leads the team with 22 goals on the season, sixth in the nation.  Sophomore goalkeeper Noelle Diana started every game for the Blue Hens this season with a 2.18 GAA and three shutouts.  They have topped their opponents in goals 51-37, shots 207-169, and earned the same number of penalty corners 103-103.  Delaware won its only CAA Championship in 2004 after going 12-5 during the regular season, the same record posted this year.

Hofstra defeated Towson 3-2 on Saturday to finish 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference.  It was the Pride’s seventh win in their final eight games, the only loss coming against #2 seed Delaware.  The Pride finished in a tie for fourth with Old Dominion and earned the tiebreaker after a 6-5 win in Norfolk during the season, a win in which HU battled back from a 5-1 deficit.  Hofstra is led by sophomore Genna Kovar, who recorded two assists in the win over Towson.  Kovar leads the Pride in goals (14) and assists (6).  On the season, they have narrowly outscored their opponents 49-48, outshot their opponents 307-255, and earned more corners 154-141.

SERIES HISTORY

Despite its program-record 17-2 mark in 2009 and 16-3 record in 2008, Drexel is 0-5 against the Dukes in the last five meetings dating back to the 2006 season.  JMU’s win at Drexel earlier this season snapped a 14-match home winning streak for the Dragons.  The Dukes lead the all-time series 8-3.  In the meeting early in October, JMU led 2-0 at the half and 3-1 through 50 minutes.  Drexel scored with seven minutes remaining, but JMU held on for the victory, 3-2.  The Dukes led in shots 11-9, but the Dragons had a significant 11-1 edge in corners.

JMU leads the all-time series with Delaware 5-4.  In its only meeting with JMU this year in late September, Delaware won 2-1.  The Dukes led 1-0 early, but the Blue Hens responded with a pair of goals within five minutes at the midway point of the first half.  JMU fell despite a 5-0 advantage in shots in the second half and 9-0 in corners in the half.  The Dukes had six corners and five shots in the final nine minutes but could not convert.

JMU leads the series with Hofstra 6-3.  The teams met Oct. 2 in Hempstead with JMU winning 5-1.The score was tied 1-1 at the half and still tied with 18 minutes before the Dukes erupted for four goals over the next 12 minutes.  Meghan Bain had two goals for the Dukes while Amy Daniel, Tori Lindsey, and Dolores de Rooij added one apiece.  JMU led in shots 14-10 and corners 7-3.