JMU Lacrosse Set to Clash With Towson
JMU lacrosse cruised to a comfortable 15-10 win over Hofstra in the regular season home finale. The win pushed the Dukes record to 15-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in CAA play. The 5 goal margin of victory was the Dukes tightest in league play. To be frank, the ladies have essentially curb-stomped the rest of the CAA to this point. They’ve scored 85 goals and only given up 24. For the first time ever, they’ve had 2 players go over the 50 goal mark. Kristin Gaudian leads the league with 54 and Elana Romesberg is right on her tail with 51. The Dukes are playing great and locked in at #4 in all the major polls. They’re good. Really, really good.
Or course, Towson is pretty good also. The Tigers are 13-2 overall and also undefeated in league play. And they’re hosting the Dukes next Saturday. The winner will grab the regular season title and the #1 seed for the CAA Tourney. It’s a big game, and in all likelihood will be a preview of the tournament championship. Take a look at the stats and it’s pretty clear the Dukes and Tigers are the class of the conference. Here are a few samples.
Goals Per Game
JMU is #1 with 15.94. Towson is #2 with 14.27.
Goals Against Per Game
Towson is #1 with 8.01. JMU is #2 with 8.40.
Shooting Percentage
JMU is #1 at 49.7%. Towson is #2 at 49.0%.
Caused Turnovers Per Game
Towson is #1 with 11.47. JMU is #2 with 11.44.
It goes on like that for most of the major stats. Yes, there are differences. For one thing, JMU takes care of the ball significantly better, surrendering about 4 fewer turnovers a game. But the point is that these are two terrific teams who will probably play each other twice in the span of 8 days to decide the CAA autobid.
Fortunately for the Dukes, the tournament will be played at Sentara Park. As the tournament host, JMU figures to have a decent home field advantage. It’s going to be tough to beat Towson in Towson (but very doable), but if we’d certainly rather go on the road for the regular season and play host in the tourney. If JMU wins out, they’re a virtual lock for a top 4 seed to the NCAA tournament. But that’s getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. First things first, let’s root for a big win next Saturday. Then let’s pack Sentara to see Coach Shelley and the ladies take care of business in the CAA Tourney. This has been a special year so far, but there’s no telling how much better things could get over the next few weeks.
