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NASHVILLE – No. 2 seed James Madison shook off its only loss of the conference regular season, a 9-7 defeat at South Florida in March, in convincing fashion on Saturday, blitzing the No. 1 seed Bulls 17-7 to capture the 2026 American Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship at Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium.
JMU (13-6) captured its second consecutive American tournament crown in its fourth straight appearance in the final, controlling the final shot count by a 35-20 margin (23-12 on goal). The championship rematch was the first loss against American competition this season for USF (12-5), as the Bulls had been a perfect 7-0 in all prior contests against league foes including the regular season win over JMU.
JMU got off to a hot start in the first quarter with an 11-5 advantage in shot attempts. Two goals each from Jordan Peterson and Brianna Mennella provided the Dukes a 6-3 lead following the opening quarter. Sofia Chepenik tallied both goals in the first quarter for USF.
Kaitlyn Carney found the back of the net twice for JMU in the second quarter, scoring with 13:18 and 1:18 remaining in the half to send the Dukes to the break with an 8-4 lead. JMU’s 17-12 shots edge and 9-5 shots on goal totals set the pace in the opening 30 minutes.
It was all JMU in the second half of play, as the Dukes outshot USF 18-8 over the final 30 minutes and outscored the top seed 9-3 in the second frame. Carney scored four goals in the second half, once in the third quarter and three times in the fourth quarter, and added one assist to power the JMU offense in the second half. Mennella tallied three goals in the second half for the Dukes.
Carney finished as the tournament’s leading goal scorer with seven goals and one assist following her six-goal performance in the final to earn tournament Most Outstanding Player accolades. Other JMU representatives on the all-tournament team were Harlowe Healey, Olivia Matthews, Mennella, Payton Root, Olivia Rongo and Peterson.
Chepenik led the way for USF in the tournament final with three goals and two assists, finishing the weekend with six goals and three assists to land on the all-tournament squad. Joining Chepenik on the all-tournament team from USF were Jena Binkis, Elise Grissett and Maggie Newton. East Carolina goalkeeper Jaime Behar was also recognized as a member of the all-tournament team.
2026 AMERICAN CONFERENCE WOMEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
April 30 and May 2 | FirstBank Stadium | Nashville, Tennessee
Semifinals | Thursday, April 30
No. 1 South Florida 13, No. 4 Temple 7
No. 2 James Madison 9, No. 3 East Carolina 7
Final | Saturday, May 2
No. 2 James Madison 17, No. 1 South Florida 7
All-Tournament Team
Jaime Behar, G, East Carolina
Jena Binkis, M, South Florida
Sofia Chepenik, A, South Florida
Elise Grissett, A, South Florida
Maggie Newton, A, South Florida
Kaitlyn Carney, A, James Madison
Harlowe Healey, M, James Madison
Olivia Matthews, A, James Madison
Brianna Mennella, A, James Madison
Payton Root, A, James Madison
Olivia Rongo, D, James Madison
Jordan Peterson, A, James Madison
Most Outstanding Player
Kaitlyn Carney, A, James Madison