Hanna Haven and her James Madison University teammates are done being compared to last year’s team.

The Dukes set the bar last year by winning their first national championship. Haven’s seven strong senior class is focused on making more program history.

“If we win one more, we’ll be the tied for the winningest class in school history,” said the Dukes captain. “JMU has never won three back-to-back-to-back conference championships. That’s another thing that we as a team are trying to do that no one else has done in JMU history.”

No. 8 JMU won its final seven regular-season games, including six straight in the CAA to claim the top seed and the chance to host the CAA tournament that begins with semifinals Friday and ends with the championship Sunday. JMU (14-3 overall, 6-0 CAA) takes on fourth-seeded Elon in the first semifinal and No. 2 Towson will play No. 3 Hofstra in the later semifinal.

“Our coaches do a great job of taking the pressure off us and making sure it’s just another game,” Haven said. “Every game that we go into, everyone is a little nervous and once we get going and start working together, whether it’s offense, defense and middies, you can tell people are more comfortable and confident in their play.”

Getting more confident and comfortable has been a season-long focus for the Dukes. They come into the postseason playing at their best.

“I’m unbelievably confident that we have what it takes to win the CAA Championships,” said JMU head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe. “I think we showed that through our regular-season performance.”

The Dukes restocked their offense as well as the draw control from a year ago. Haven is surrounded almost entirely by new starters on the attack.

“I was one of the youngest last year and now I’m the oldest,” Haven said. “It’s definitely different. I have way more responsibility. A lot of people had to trust me and I had to trust my teammates. It’s awesome they came up to me with questions. It’s great they’re looking to me for answers.”

It’s no secret that Haven is JMU’s go-to attacker. She leads the team with 36 goals and 33 assists while facing every opponent’s top mark.

“She’s a two-way threat,” said Klaes-Bawcombe. “Her shot is lethal right now, and the fact that she can feed out of a double, I think that’s what is making her the special player that she is. She’s a multi-faceted offensive player. It’s been pretty exciting.

“She was another offensive power last year. This year she’s been someone we’re leaning on. It’s been great to see her develop that multi-faceted offense.”

Logan Brennan, Maddie McDaniel and Halle Duenkel join Haven with at least 20 goals and Charlotte Haggerty has 19. The Dukes attack doesn’t have to score a huge amount to win thanks to a defense ranked 14th in the country in scoring. Goalie Molly Dougherty is fourth nationally in save percentage, and the draw control ranks 13th nationwide led by McDaniel and Caroline Sdanowich.

“Our defense has been solid from the beginning,” Haven said. “We’ve developed as an offense overall. We had to learn each other’s strengths. We have some new dynamics. We have some new cutters.”

JMU will look to keep their win streak alive and build momentum in the CAA tournament. They beat Elon, 16-8, two weeks ago. They needed overtime to edge Hofstra, which is in the midst of one of its best seasons. Towson has disappointed after a rocky start against a litany of ranked opponents.

“We can’t worry about Towson or Hofstra until we get by Elon,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Towson-Hofstra, that’s going to be a dogfight. That could go either way. I think they both have really special individuals on the offensive end that they’re going to be relying on, so I’m interested to see who supports those players because ultimately it’s going to be the best team that wins.”

Elon, Towson and Hofstra need the CAA tournament win to get into the NCAA tournament. The Dukes have wins over Virginia Tech, Penn State and High Point, and no bad losses, but they don’t want to take any chances.

“I think it’s a challenging year for us because our conference RPI is down,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “Even though we’ve been winning these games, our RPI is not improving. It’s hovering around 18 even though we had won three or four more games. That obviously concerns me. We have to control our own destiny. I love that the bracket is expanded and I see what’s happening with the parity – Duke shaking some things up with Notre Dame, and Penn State beating Hopkins, all those things matter for us. Virginia Tech beating Denver, those types of things help us, but I think right now let’s focus on what we can control, and that’s getting through the CAA.”

It's Not How You Start

Richmond led only once in the Atlantic-10 conference championship game Sunday. Sam Geiersbach gave the Spiders their first lead with a goal at the 4:01 mark of overtime for a 19-18 overtime victory and unlikely repeat trip to the NCAA tournament.

Seeded third for the A-10 tournament, Richmond put the game into overtime on a goal by Madison Ostrick with four seconds left in regulation. They had trailed by six goals in the second half. UMass held a 30-8 advantage on draw controls, but the Spiders forced 22 turnovers. Richmond also won last year’s championship in overtime, but UMass won this year’s regular-season meeting in overtime.

Making Their Point

High Point is going back to the NCAA tournament. The Panthers won their third straight Big South Tournament title, 17-10, over Winthrop on Sunday. High Point has not lost to a Big South opponent in three years. High Point led, 14-4, at halftime.

Abby Hormes was named tournament MVP after setting a championship record with 10 points. The sophomore also became the second Big South player to ever record 100 points in a season. Hormes this year set new program single-season records with 65 goals and tied the program record with 79 draw controls.

Leaving No Doubt

A year after falling in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, USC didn’t give anyone else a chance in this year’s. The Trojans outscored opponents, 28-8, to wrap up their first Pac-12 tournament crown to go with their first Pac-12 regular-season title. Top-seeded USC halted second-seeded Colorado, 12-3, in the final Sunday. Riley Hertford made 11 saves and Kerrigan Miller was named tournament MVP.

Colorado was the only Pac-12 team to beat USC this season. The teams each won as visitors during the regular season. USC will return to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five years after missing it a year ago.

Tournament Tiebreaker

Furman, Detroit Mercy and Mercer all won their final games to force a three-way tie for first in the Southern Conference regular season. Their conference tournament will determine who represents the conference at the NCAA tournament.

Mercer, the defending champion after winning the initial Southern Conference tournament a year ago as the No. 4 seed, is the top seed and will play Central Michigan. Tournament host Furman will meet Detroit Mercy in the other semifinal Thursday with the final slated for Saturday.

Going Out on Top

Senior attack Lindsey Ronbeck scored a career-high and program-record nine goals as Florida beat Cincinnati, 25-6, in a matchup of the American Athletic Conference unbeatens Saturday. With the win, the Gators claimed their ninth straight regular-season title. After four American Lacrosse Conference crowns, they won four in the Big East. This is their first season in the newly formed AAC. Florida has won 30 straight regular season conference games.

Black Knights' Day

Army earned its first Patriot League tournament semifinal berth with a 12-9 win over Lehigh on Sunday. The Black Knights already have set program records for wins (14) and conference wins (6) and this marked their first Patriot tournament win in their four-year history.

Jackie Brattan became the first cadet in program history with 100 draw controls after winning seven against Lehigh. She also led the offense with four goals and an assist, her 12th hat trick of the season. Army faces second-seeded Navy on Thursday.