James Madison, Boston College advance to women's NCAA lacrosse championship game

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STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- "Who let the dogs out?"

The James Madison tailgate crowd, dads sporting neon-purple wigs in the mix, began belting out the Baha Men oldie three hours before the Dukes took the first draw at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Friday. The opponent: a North Carolina lacrosse program that was a two-time national champion competing in its 10th final four.

Barking fans are a tradition at JMU sporting events, even those not nestled in the Shenandoah Valley.

The music and the magic continued for JMU (21-1) during the game, too, as the Dukes -- whose mascot is a bulldog -- advanced to their first women's NCAA lacrosse national championship game after eliminating the Tar Heels 15-12.

"Hearing that song so much really lightened the mood for us," said Dukes senior Haley Warden, who had five goals, four in the first half, and 10 of JMU's 15 draw controls. "It allowed us to let loose and play lacrosse, which is what our team prides itself in doing."

Boston College (22-1) awaits JMU on Sunday at noon ET. The Eagles, who came up short to Maryland in the final game of last season, overcame a 5-1 deficit Friday to upend the defending national champions 15-13.

For the first time in five years, the sport's flagship program is not in the national championship.

"I played there, I know what those girls are made of and what those coaches are like," said Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, whose program had been 0-13 against the Terrapins. "It's a big deal."

Walker-Weinstein's daughter Wesley looked unimpressed. The 3-year-old with "BC" on her left cheek yawned and repeatedly rubbed her eyes sitting in her mother's postgame news conference after the Eagles' thrilling nightcap that saw junior Sam Apuzzo score four goals, including the final two.

Maryland's only other loss had come to North Carolina (17-4), the only team to beat the Eagles this season. But the Tar Heels will remember this season as one bookended by losses to JMU. Back on Feb. 10, the Dukes gritted out a double-overtime thriller on a miserable 35-degree Saturday afternoon in their home stadium, their first victory over North Carolina since 2000.

On this balmy day when shade was hard to find, JMU never trailed in a dominant effort that included an edge on draw control. In the first half, Warden had as many goals as North Carolina. JMU led wire to wire after jumping out to a 3-0 advantage.

"We can't go down 3-0 against a team like JMU," lamented North Carolina's Marie McCool, a two-time Tewaaraton Award finalist who wiped away tears at the postgame news conference. "Coming out flat really hurt us."

A few weeks ago, Stony Brook looked to be the feel-good story in women's lacrosse: The Seawolves were the top-ranked team nearly all season and entered the national tournament 19-0. But a crushing loss in double overtime to the Eagles in last weekend's quarterfinals dashed the hopes of the school vying for a national title in its own backyard. That left three familiar faces still standing -- the ACC's two best teams and the program that has amassed 14 national titles.

Tack on the Colonial Athletic Association champions, who hadn't been to the final four since the bracket consisted of just 12 teams in 2000.

The Dukes started the season outside the top 15, needing several weeks and wins to climb up the rankings. Kristen Gaudian, the school's third-ever Tewaaraton finalist and who had a hat trick in the second half, is a recruited walk-on who didn't see major minutes until her junior season.

"It's so surreal," said Gaudian, one of nine JMU seniors. "It's just an incredible feeling that I've always dreamed about doing."

With every goal, the Dukes danced on the sideline, the bench feeding off the energy of the fans behind, who weren't shy about breaking into JMU's real fight song.

Madison. James Madison.
We are the Dukes of JMU.

Coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe, a JMU alum, savored the ice bath, likely a relief given the humid conditions, and handed out high-fives and hugs en route to the postgame tailgate.

"Yes!" she repeated over and over.

While the fairytale season lives on for the Dukes, they're no Cinderella story in this coach's eyes.

"In our sport, sometimes we have a little bit of amnesia," Klaes-Bawcombe said, touting a program that has had 59 All-Americans. "People don't remember JMU because it's easy to forget. And I think you have to credit our program for continuing to fight and continuing to be willing to do the work and prove it."

While Stony Brook wasn't in the house, plenty of players, including Dukes senior Rebecca Tooker, felt at home. Eighteen players from the four teams hail from the lacrosse hotbed of Long Island, including the defender who watched Northwestern defeat Syracuse for the 2012 national championship in this stadium.

"I thought to myself, 'It would be really cool to come back and take a team to this,'" Tooker said. "It's surreal that I'm on Long Island and I'm with my team. I'm with my family and I'll just put it there. My James Madison team is my family. So I think just bringing those two together really makes me the happiest person."

A national championship would cap a brilliant sports stretch for the Dukes, the national runner-up in FCS football after winning the championship in 2016. JMU's softball team, which lost ace pitcher Megan Good to injury prior to the start of the season, finished 43-14, receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

In the 50th season of JMU lacrosse, the Dukes will look to tack on another highlight.

No team other than Maryland, North Carolina or Northwestern has held up the national championship trophy since Virginia won it in 2004.