Three-peat performance

Carolyn Walser / senior photographer Senior defender and Tewaarton Trophy National Player of the Year candidate Ashlee Dardine and the Dukes open their season Sunday against the California Golden Bears at the JMU Lacrosse Complex.

Kellie Young’s expectations are set fairly high.

"When I got to JMU, the players showed me how important a conference championship was," the third-year lacrosse coach said. "We want to fight for a national championship and winning the CAA is the first part of that."

But, in 2005, Young’s simple yet demanding expectation will be compounded by something much larger than a Colonial Athletic Association title.

"The past three years, we’ve been the team to beat," senior defender Ashlee Dardine said. "We’re the team with the bull’s eye on its back. With a chance for a three-peat CAA championship, it’s not an option to lose."

And that’s where the 2005 season becomes larger than its initial face value.

Three straight CAA championships.

Four of the last five.

"We’ve been working for this the past three years," Dardine said. "This team isn’t stopping."

No team in the 13-year history of the CAA has won three straight conference titles. Aside from the current JMU team, only one has captured back-to-back crowns — the 1993-’94 Loyola College Greyhounds

As a result, the Dukes are treading through uncharted waters as a marked team.

"This is the first year this team is really feeling that," Young said. "People are starting to realize JMU is back and it makes us wear a target on our chest. They’re coming after us. It sets the bar pretty high trying to do three in a row."

Of course JMU’s track record warrants high expectations.

Since the inception of the CAA in 1992, the Dukes have reached the conference championship game seven times, winning five titles in the process. A sixth would tie Loyola for the most in CAA history.

"They’re an incredibly strong program," Young said of Loyola. "That match up is historical. There’s something when you walk out on the field in that game and you know it’s going to be a battle."

The Greyhounds left the CAA after the 2002 season and currently play as an independent team. Since then, Young and the Dukes are 4-0 in the conference tournament, 13-1 in CAA play and lay claim to the last two conference players of the year — Lisa Staedt (’03) and Gail Decker (’04).

Now, without Staedt or Decker on the roster, Young said this JMU team has an opportunity to silence any remaining critics.

"There’s a lot of talk out there that JMU is as good as it is because of Lisa and Gail," Young said. "We’re looking to show the country that JMU is good because of the 26 players on this team — a third championship would prove that."

But aside from proving its worth, a third title also would give JMU a chance to get to the next level.

"It means everything to me," senior attacker Jessica Brownridge said. "Winning the CAA championship is the automatic seed to the NCAA tournament."

And for Brownridge, that’s where the Dukes have amends to make. JMU’s 2004 season came to an abrupt halt when the Dukes were upset by the Vanderbilt University Commodores in the NCAA quarterfinals.

"I think we looked too far ahead against Vanderbilt last year," sophomore attacker Kelly Berger said. "The only way you can take a season is one game at a time. This year, everyone is buying in."

Brownridge has already drawn the line in the sand. The mission is clear.

"I want to be playing May 22 at the Naval Academy," Brownridge said. "I want to win a national championship."

Step one is winning the CAA, and as far as Young is concerned, last season’s loss to Vanderbilt provided JMU with a motivational benchmark for the 2005 season. She realizes both the practicality of winning the conference and the magnitude of doing it three times in a row.

"We’ve created something great here," Young said. "I want this team to get back into the NCAA tournament. I want to get back into that quarterfinal game, win it and get to the final four. The three-peat is the first step toward that."