Reliving the 1994 Field Hockey National Championship
11/7/2014 1:44:00 PM | Field Hockey
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Twenty years ago today, Sunday, November 20, 1994, James Madison won its first team national championship in school history as field hockey topped North Carolina in penalty strokes. Below read more about championship day in Boston as written 20 years ago by JMU Sports Media Relations. You'll also find several photos within this article plus more photos of the championship in the title game photo gallery. James Madison will induct its newest group into the Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 21 with the 1994 field hockey team being the first team to be inducted in JMU history.
   These words, inscribed on JMU's NCAA championship rings, summarize the qualities that made the Dukes the top team in the nation in 1994.
   The drive to the national title required a total team effort and a never-say-die attitude. An observer of JMU's Final Four performance perhaps said it best: "They simply refused to lose." Â
Eileen Arnaldo
A championship performance
   The Dukes outscored North Carolina in a dramatic penalty-stroke "shoot-out" to win the NCAA title on a warm November day in Boston.
   In the NCAA final the Tar Heels made the first strike, taking a 1-0 lead on the strength of a Meredith Lawrence goal midway through the first half. But, with 1:33 remaining in the half, JMU's Carole Thate eluded three defenders in a drive toward the goal that evened the score.
   A strong defensive stand by the Dukes prevented the Tar Heels from taking a single shot on goal in the second half. JMU's best scoring chance in the half came on a breakaway in the 59th minute, when a shot by Thate hit a defender and sailed high over the goalcage. When regulation play ended the scoreboard read "North Carolina 1, JMU 1."
   In the first 15-minute, sudden-death overtime, neither team could overcome the opponent's defense to get a shot off. In the second overtime JMU held off a UNC barrage as goalkeeper Heather Colbert made two saves and Jen Wilds and Renee Ranere made dramatic defensive stops right in front of the goalcage. Â
Kelley Bloomer
Shooting it out for the national title
   With the game still tied after overtime play, the national title would be decided by a series of five penalty strokes, alternating with a player from each team taking a shot.
   "The minute the whistle blew and we were going to strokes, we knew we had it," said Colbert. "Our team is strong in strokes, both taking them and defending them. I have total confidence in my teammates taking strokes. They have total confidence in me stopping them."
   Colbert set the tone with a crucial kick save on UNC's first attempt, by Jessica Grasso, and Thate connected on JMU's initial try to put the Dukes up 1-0. Each team scored on their next two strokes, with Sharon Moore and Barbara Hansen scoring for the Tar Heels and Ranere and Kelley Bloomer connecting for JMU. The result was a 3-2 JMU lead.
   On UNC's next attempt, Cindy Werley's shot just missed the goalcage, and it was up to Gwen Stoltzfus to give the Dukes an insurmountable 4-2 lead in the tie-breaker. When she put her shot easily into the goalcage past UNC goalie Jana Withrow, JMU had captured the first NCAA title in the school's history.
   "I felt really confident going into strokes. We work on it every day in practice. There was no doubt in my mind that we couldn't finish it in strokes," said Stoltzfus, who played in the final with a sore elbow after being hit by an errant pass in the semifinal round. (Days later she would discover the "soreness" was a hairline fracture.) Â
Jennifer Wilds
Scrappy play leads to semifinal win
   It was pure hustle that gave the Dukes their semifinal victory over Northwestern to advance to the national championship game.
   With a scoreless tie and less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Eileen Arnaldo chased down a pass from Carole Thate on the end line, and she then made a diving pass from the right side of the goalcage past Wildcat goalie Donna Barg to Kelley Bloomer. Bloomer slipped the ball past Barg to give JMU the 1-0 victory and a berth in the championship game.
   "Everybody on their team thought that there was no way Eileen could get to the ball," remembered Bloomer. "But she chased it down and pushed it backward to me. All I had to do was hit it in." Â
Eileen Arnaldo
A dream ending
   Before the title game Morgan told the team, "No one remembers second-best. You need to go out there and lay it on the line."
   "We started the season with a dream to be the number one team in the nation. Our commitment, desire and dedication paid off in an NCAA championship," said Morgan.
   That desire and dedication was especially evident in Eileen Arnaldo, who played despite having her right thumb in a cast after suffering a fracture two weeks earlier. After sitting out the conference tournament, she returned to play every minute of JMU's three NCAA tournament games.
   "To hold that trophy was an amazing feeling," said Arnaldo. "I'll never forget it. Never."
