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NASHVILLE \u2013 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\u2019s Lacrosse Championship at Vanderbilt\u2019s FirstBank Stadium.
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\nJMU (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.
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\nJMU 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.
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\nKaitlyn 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\u2019s 17-12 shots edge and 9-5 shots on goal totals set the pace in the opening 30 minutes.
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\nIt 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.
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\nCarney finished as the tournament\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.
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\n2026 AMERICAN CONFERENCE WOMEN\u2019S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
\nApril 30 and May 2 | FirstBank Stadium | Nashville, Tennessee
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\nSemifinals | Thursday, April 30
\nNo. 1 South Florida 13, No. 4 Temple 7
\nNo. 2 James Madison 9, No. 3 East Carolina 7
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\nFinal | Saturday, May 2
\nNo. 2 James Madison 17, No. 1 South Florida 7
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\nAll-Tournament Team
\nJaime Behar, G, East Carolina
\nJena Binkis, M, South Florida
\nSofia Chepenik, A, South Florida
\nElise Grissett, A, South Florida
\nMaggie Newton, A, South Florida
\nKaitlyn Carney, A, James Madison
\nHarlowe Healey, M, James Madison
\nOlivia Matthews, A, James Madison
\nBrianna Mennella, A, James Madison
\nPayton Root, A, James Madison
\nOlivia Rongo, D, James Madison
\nJordan Peterson, A, James Madison<\/p>\n
Most Outstanding Player
\nKaitlyn Carney, A, James Madison
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