HARRISONBURG, Va. – No. 4 James Madison lacrosse has clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 17-8 victory against Cincinnati on Senior Day at Sentara Park Sunday afternoon.

The Dukes are now 5-0 in The American and 14-1 overall while the Bearcats sit at 10-6 and 2-3 in the league standings. JMU tied its longest program winning streak of 14 straight wins, matching the final streak of the 2018 season.

Four Dukes earned hat tricks for the afternoon – redshirt junior Isabella Peterson, junior Katelyn Morgan and seniors Lilly Boswell and Tai Jankowski. Sunday was the second straight game four Dukes had hat tricks in the same game and JMU has 11 hat tricks in its last three games. Peterson’s five goals and seven points both led the way offensively and give her 60 goals on the season.

The defense held its 12th opponent to single-digit goals this season, led by redshirt senior Mairead Durkin with four caused turnovers and four ground balls on the afternoon. Classmate Rachel Matey matched a season high with eight draw controls to go with three ground balls and a caused turnover. In the cage, redshirt senior Kat Buchanan made five saves on the afternoon.

For the Bearcats, Kylie Gioia scored four goals while Camryn Callaghan dished out three assists. Goalkeeper Ashley Lapp made nine saves and added three ground balls on the afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – James Madison 7, Cincinnati 1
Three goals in 34 seconds put the Dukes up 3-0 less than two minutes into the game and the Dukes ended the quarter on a 4-0 run in the final 9:14 of the period. JMU dominated the draw, 7-2.

Second Quarter – James Madison 10, Cincinnati 3
Peterson scored twice in the quarter as both she and Morgan marked first-half hat tricks. JMU totaled 21 shots in the first half, with seven of eight second-quarter attempts on goal. Durkin caused three turnovers in the period.

Third Quarter – James Madison 12, Cincinnati 6
Boswell completed her second career hat trick while Buchanan made a pair of key saves.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 17, Cincinnati 8
After the Bearcats scored to pull within five at the 13:52 mark, the Dukes put the game away with a 5-0 run, the first three goals of which came in 24 seconds from 11:47 to 11:23. The Dukes peppered the Cincinnati cage with nine more shots in the period.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• The Dukes have finished at least tied for first in conference play each of the last seven seasons. JMU won its 14th consecutive conference game overall dating back to 2021.
• JMU also extended its home winning streak to 13 games dating back to last year and marked an undefeated home regular season slate for the first time since 2018.
• The Dukes dominated on the shot clock, 37-18 and in the draw circle, 18-10.
• The Dukes played without a penalty for the second time this season, while the Bearcats committed seven on the afternoon.
• JMU has out-scored opponents 75-28 in conference play this season.
• Peterson is the first player in JMU history with at least 60 goals in multiple seasons.
• Morgan’s four goals on Sunday marked a career high while her six points tied a career high.

RECORDS AND MILESTONES
• Durkin’s four caused turnovers put her within one of tying and two of breaking the all-time program record currently held by Emma Johnson.
• Peterson is now 10 goals away from breaking the JMU goals record currently held by Gail Decker.

UP NEXT
The Dukes are on the road for the final two games of the regular season. JMU will wrap up its non-conference schedule with a matchup at Rutgers on Sunday, April 23 at noon on B1G+. The Dukes will then finish the regular season and play to win The American outright on Saturday, April 29 at ECU.

— JMU Athletics —