Dorrien Van Dyke was named an assistant at James Madison and announced as a player on the U.S. women’s national team within one week at the end of her summer.

“My life was going in such a good direction,” Van Dyke said. “It was so cool I was getting those opportunities next to each other.”

Van Dyke will see her worlds collide when she plays for Team USA as it takes on defending NCAA champion JMU in the second game of the Team USA Fall Classic at US Lacrosse headquarters Saturday. The U.S. men’s  national team will play Yale at noon followed by Team USA against James Madison.

“It’s definitely going to be weird,” Van Dyke said. “I’m definitely excited for the opportunity. It’s a great opportunity for JMU to be playing against the U.S. team. It’s another thing that the girls are excited for, not only playing against the U.S. team, but playing against [me].”

Van Dyke is hoping to impress on both fronts. The former All-American midfielder at Stony Brook has never made a U.S. national team before this year. She is only in her second year of coaching after assisting for one season at Monmouth right after graduation.

“Monmouth was a great place for me to start my coaching career and get my feet wet and learn more about the coaching side of the game,” Van Dyke said. “It was a good first place for me. Going from Stony Brook to Monmouth, it’s a good level of play. The girls respected what I had to say because I came from a high level of play. People were going to listen to me even though I was young.”

Van Dyke is still young, and now finds herself joining a JMU team that went 22-1, won the Colonial Athletic Association and captured its first national championship last year.

“Definitely, it’s in the back of your head,” Van Dyke said. “It’s a great challenge to be able to work toward. You have to take it a game at a time. You can’t just be focused on the end goal. That’s where teams lose it by thinking so far ahead.”

Van Dyke’s hire is one of several changes for a Dukes team that must replace six senior starters from last year’s team. Among the starters who graduated is Kristen Gaudian, the CAA Player of the Year, who will also suit up for Team USA on Saturday.

“I think that that’s going to help our girls feel more connected to the game,” said JMU head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe. “I think that so much of their education is just experiences. It helps my players realize how touchable these athletes are and how a program like James Madison can give them that opportunity if they want it. It connects the whole experience.”

The Team USA Fall Classic is the first step for the Dukes to look at how they will compete in 2019. On Sunday, the team travels to Johns Hopkins for their first look at college competition in the "Stick it to Sarcoma" event that includes Hopkins, Arizona State and last year’s NCAA finals' opponent, Boston College.

“I think this is going to be a very challenging year for JMU,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “We are in the spotlight, and we deserve to be so. But there’s a lot of responsibility that comes along with that. I think our program is going to be tested on so many levels and we love that.

“The biggest challenge, it’s re-growing,” she added. “It’s something our program has had to do year after year after year. And this year, it’s going to be while everyone is going to be watching it. We understand that means we have to find our leadership and find our focus, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”

Van Dyke, who graduated as the second-leading goal scorer in Stony Brook history, will focus on the JMU offense and draw. She replaces Kerry Stoothoff, who had worked with the offense, draw control and goalies before leaving for Notre Dame.

“I feel like Dorrien has been the perfect hire for us right now,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “She comes from a mentality that’s very similar to ours. It’s getting the most out of your program, a blue-collar, gritty, work mentality over at Stony Brook. Being able to work with coaches like Emily Boissonneault and myself, we have very engaging personalities and she’s not intimidated. She stepped right in, and she’s given us great insight, and she’s helped us simplify this game with some of her drills and some of her thought processes and her knowledge of the game. We’re excited about Dorrien.”

Said Van Dyke: “What was really exciting for me was not just that they won the national championship, but being able to come work for Shelley, who won the Coach of the Year from IWLCA. I want to be a great coach. Learning from her will take my career to the next level. That’s something that drew me in.”

Matt Snyder, a volunteer coach, will work with JMU goalies. He worked for the Eagle Stix Atlanta club before moving with his family to the James Madison area and offering to help.

“He’s stepped in as our goalie coach, and he’s amazing,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “The goalies love him. We have Dorrien supporting me on offense and focusing on the draw and Matt helping with the goalies. We feel really good about how we managed the turnover.”

Van Dyke will work with an offense that graduated 64 percent of its scoring, and the team lost 81 percent of its draw controls. Five of their top six scorers graduated.

“That’s something every program goes through every year,” Van Dyke said. “You lose people every year and other people have to step up. It’s a challenge to teach the people that were the next in line. I think I can help with the offense and the draw. ”

Gaudian scored a team-high 80 goals last year while Katie Kerrigan led the team with 60 assists and Haley Warden had a team-high 108 draw controls. They leave some big shoes to fill along with graduated defenders Rebecca Tooker and Corrine Schmidt.

“Specifically, we are looking for midfield,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Haley Warden and Elena Rosenberg, they did so much work for us. Developing our midfield is going to be a big focus this fall.”

Hanna Haven, a senior attacker who was second on the team last year in scoring with 47 goals and 32 assists, returns to lead the offense. Maddie McDaniel, the junior attacker is the top returner in draw controls after winning 23 last year. Charlotte Haggerty, a sophomore midfielder, had 21.

“Maddie McDaniel has been so patient behind Haley Warden,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Now she’s going to have the chance to show us what she can do.”

The Dukes have kept their focus on finding their roles. They have spent the first month back at school talking not about who they don’t have anymore, but who they do have.

“What we’ve been emphasizing so far is for them to have confidence,” Van Dyke said. “Most of them know what to do and they’re good lacrosse players. If they’re not confident, it shows on the field. They’ve never been in this position where they’re the first person in line. They have to be the leaders and they have to have confidence. That’s the first step before you actually implement the offense and the draws.”

It didn’t take long for Van Dyke to feel she was at the right place. The JMU players made a good impression on her with their make-up and drive.

“They’re a great group of women to work with,” Van Dyke said. “Practice is so fun. They’re hungry to prove to people it wasn’t just a one-year thing. They want to do it again. It’s great to see that every day.”

Their first on-field test will be a stern one. It’s the first game for Team USA under Jenny Levy, whose North Carolina team lost to JMU in last year’s NCAA semifinals.

“We’ve only been practicing a couple weeks,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “We don’t have a lot of our systems in place. It’ll be how do we compete and then how do we show resilience depending on what the score line is? We have a whole year to develop so we can’t get caught up in the score. We have to focus on being a team and supporting each other and competing for the full 60 minutes.”

It’s a unique chance for JMU, which has faced Team USA on a few other occasions, but never with this magnitude of attention in the first game of fall ball in a televised showdown.

“We’re taking advantage of that opportunity,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “These girls, there’s so much to them. That’s something we’re proud of. The girls in my program are not just lacrosse players. They have a lot of other interests and they explore those interests in college and are very well rounded. They’re advocates for themselves and their experiences are a big part of that. They’re very proud. It gives them opportunity to talk about it.”

JMU is looking forward to the challenge of Saturday as well as the challenges of the season after coming off a national title season.

“This is a process,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “We have a whole year to get our program up to that chance. It’s taking it one day at a time. This is our first fall ball game. We’re jumping in with the U.S. team. We have five of those this fall, and we’ll be a completely different team at the end of the fall than we are in the beginning of the fall. On Saturday we get to compete against the best athletes in the world in our sport. That’s a huge opportunity that we’ve earned as a program. We’re proud of that. And we’re going to do the best we can on Saturday.”

Fall Focus
Colonial Athletic Association

James Madison had a program-defining year in 2018, winning back-to-back CAA championships before claiming its first-ever national title. All eyes are on the Dukes this spring as their conference challengers battle for the automatic qualifier. Teams are listed in order of last year’s final standings.

James Madison
6-0 CAA, 22-1 Overall

The Dukes lost Tewaaraton finalist Kristen Gaudian, do-everything Haley Warden, do-everything-else Elena Romesburg, and leading defender Rebecca Tooker, but last year’s national title run has provided motivation for the returners, who now look for their chance to shine. Molly Dougherty is back in goal and Hanna Haven leads the rebuilt offense. JMU is hoping steady growth throughout the year propels them to the top of the conference.

Towson
5-1 CAA, 16-5 Overall

Graduated first-team attacker Kaitlyn Montalbano, leading goal scorer Emily Gillingham and a top defender Tianna Wallapher, but they have a strong defense led by two-time CAA Defender of the Year Olivia Conti and overlooked Sami Chenoweth in front of top goalie Kiley Keating. The offense returns senior Natalie Sulmonte, who was third in the CAA in goals last year. The Tigers have the balance to earn the conference crown that has eluded them the last two years.

Elon
3-2 CAA, 4-11 Overall

The Phoenix lost four games by two goals or fewer last year. They are looking to be stronger on offense and draw control after ranking 100th nationally in both. It won’t be easy after graduating Stephanie Asher, who was tops in scoring and draw controls.

Delaware
3-3 CAA, 8-10 Overall

The Blue Hens have all but four players back from a team that played its way into the CAA tournament in the final game. They must replace midfielder Becky Gohsler, who led the team in draw controls and provided 34 goals, as well as Taylor Carpentier, who led the CAA in saves, but have a good senior defender in Chantae Simms, who led the CAA in ground balls a year ago and caused 31 turnovers.

Hofstra
2-4 CAA, 8-9 Overall

The Pride returns its top three scorers with Alyssa Parrella coming off a big sophomore campaign, sophomore Katie Whelan and junior Alexa Mattera. Hofstra played the top teams tough at times, but needs to extend those stretches to climb in the standings.

Drexel
1-5 CAA, 4-12 Overall

The Dragons return CAA Rookie of the Year Colleen Grady for new head coach Jill Batcheller to build around this year. Batcheller comes from Bryant with a penchant for orchestrating high-powered offense. She also will have to rebuild a Drexel defense that ranked last in the CAA.

William & Mary
0-5 CAA, 4-12 Overall

The Tribe took Hofstra to overtime in their first CAA game last year but otherwise didn’t have the firepower to be very competitive. William & Mary is looking for any way to snap a streak that has seen them finish last or next to last in the CAA in each of the previous five seasons.