Posted on March 19, 2006
The JMU women’s lacrosse team hasn’t slowed down since winning the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title and the conference tournament last year. And the Dukes still have the green light lit.
After knocking off then-No. 3 Georgetown on the road and Yale at home, the Dukes catapulted from 12th to seventh in the nation, according to Inside Lacrosse. And in the coaches’ poll, JMU is ranked fifth. Madison held both positions for the past two weeks and is preparing to play its first true home game against No. 9 Dartmouth tomorrow at 2 p.m.
In the Dukes’ first game of the season, they were forced to play their non-conference nemesis Notre Dame in Charlottesville, due to a snow storm that covered the JMU Lacrosse Complex in ice. And in its second “home” match, the Yale crowd outnumbered JMU’s, since most of the purple and gold faithful was away on Spring Break.
The Dukes suffered their first and only loss of the season against the Fighting Irish by a single point in extra time for the second straight year. Despite the tough loss, JMU took no time in responding with a 14-10 win over Georgetown.
Now, the Dukes (4-1) are sitting on a four-game winning streak as they continue to try to outdo themselves.
After finishing 15-5 last year with a conference championship, it seemed as though the Dukes had reached the peak of the mountain. However, Madison returns both the CAA Offensive Player of the Year, senior midfielder Kelly Berger, and the Defensive Player of the Year, senior defender Kylee Dardine.
However, in her first year coaching the Dukes, Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe has not only found a way to preserve JMU’s winning tradition, but she has also bolstered an already potent offense.
In its latest victory against Virginia Tech, JMU’s offense remained balanced with eight different scorers contributing in a 23-15 shooting fest. Berger and junior attacker Emily Haller paved the way with five goals each.
Despite sharing scoring duties more so than last year, Berger has been a force, scoring 16 goals in JMU’s first five games. She is also chasing the nation’s top lacrosse award as she was named to the Tewaaraton Trophy “watch list” in the preseason.
Senior attacker Maria Bosica and a trio of junior attackers in Natasha Fuchs, Emily Haller and Annie Wagner have all shined in JMU’s revamped offense, with a different person claiming hero status from game to game.
The one constant has been the Dukes’ first-year starter in the cage, junior goalkeeper Kelly Wetzel. Of all the components, JMU’s biggest question mark, from the outside looking in, was how they’d handle and replace Livvy King, a four-year starter and All-CAA first teamer.
Wetzel welcomed the spotlight by recording 65 saves in her first five games, including 17 against one of the better-shooting teams in the nation in Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are currently sixth in the nation, averaging 13.84 goals per game. Additionally, Wetzel is carrying a five-game streak of double-digit saves into tomorrow’s home match against No. 9 Dartmouth.
Suddenly, the unanimous preseason voting by the CAA coaches for JMU to repeat as champions doesn’t seem so far-fetched — if it ever did in the first place. As the Dukes continue to climb their way up in the rankings, the real question is simply: how high will they go?
John Galle is a senior SMAD major concentrating in print journalism.
