PHILADELPHIA – No. 6 James Madison lacrosse has advanced to The American Championship final, fending off a strong challenge from Cincinnati 13-7 at Howarth Field in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon.

The Dukes extended their program record with their 17th straight win to improve to 17-1 while the Bearcats wrapped up their season at 11-7.

Redshirt junior Isabella Peterson scored four goals on eight shots to lead JMU, adding two assists for a six-point day along with a game-high six draw controls. Senior Tai Jankowski and redshirt junior Taylor Marchetti each added a pair of goals while freshman Maddie Epke also had two assists to go with a score.

Defensively, redshirt senior Rachel Matey picked up five ground balls, added a caused turnover and grabbed three draw controls. Sophomore Nicholle Marshall caused two turnovers to go with three ground balls. Redshirt senior Kat Buchanan made five saves and added three ground balls.

Junior Ava Goeller scored three goals for the Bearcats, all in the first quarter. Goalkeeper Ashley Lapp made eight saves and added six ground balls and a caused turnover.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – James Madison 4, Cincinnati 3
The Bearcats scored the first two goals, just the second time JMU’s opponent scored first this season. The Dukes responded with three goals in 1:56, with two from the free position. Cincinnati tied the game 26 seconds later at the 2:31 mark, but a Matey interception led to a Peterson goal with 5.8 seconds left for the first-quarter lead.

Second Quarter – James Madison 7, Cincinnati 5
Peterson, senior Lilly Boswell and redshirt sophomore Maggie Clark all scored as JMU led by as much as three in the period. The Dukes took the draw control advantage, 4-2.

Third Quarter – James Madison 8, Cincinnati 5
Epke supplied the quarter’s only goal before the two teams went scoreless for the final 11:50.

Fourth Quarter – James Madison 13, Cincinnati 7
Peterson scored twice to extend the lead to five and JMU continued to pull away courtesy of goals from Olivia Mattis, Jankowski and Marchetti. JMJ put nine shots towards the Cincinnati net while committing just one turnover.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• The Dukes advanced to their eighth straight conference championship game and won their ninth straight game in a conference tournament.

• Cincinnati committed 21 turnovers, its most this season and the fifth time a JMU opponent has committed at least 20 this season.

• Eight different Dukes scored as JMU held a 30-17 advantage on the shot board.

• Including postseason, JMU has now out-scored conference opponents 107-40.

• The Dukes shot 4-for-5 from the free position.

RECORDS AND MILESTONES
• Peterson sits eight goals way from breaking Gail Decker’s record for the most goals in a single season.

• As a team, JMU is up to 126 assists, fourth-most all-time and 30 away from the 2018 program record.

• The team’s 48 free-position goals moved the 2023 team up to fifth all-time in program history.

UP NEXT
JMU will play in the American Athletic Conference final on Saturday against the winner of No. 2 seed Florida, who defeated No. 3 East Carolina 12-9. First draw for Saturday’s championship game will be at 12:00 p.m.

— JMU Athletics —