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Outside of conference tournaments, the most exciting game of the weekend takes place in Towson, Md., as No. 4 James Madison competes against the No. 10 Tigers in a CAA rivalry matchup with the regular season conference title on the line.

Both teams enter with an undefeated 5-0 CAA record, but the winner Saturday will claim the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.

Of note, six of their last 22 meetings were in the CAA tournament with five of the last six in the title game. Towson won three of those five crowns, while combined, the Dukes and Tigers have won each of the last 10 championships – Towson with six and JMU with four.

NO. 4 JAMES MADISON AT NO. 10 TOWSON
WHEN: Saturday, April 28, 2 p.m.
WATCH: Lax Sports Network

Senior attacker Kristen Gaudian and senior midfielder Haley Warden, the team’s first to reach the Top 25 for the Tewaaraton Award since 2013, lead James Madison. Gaudian has tallied 68 points to take charge on the offense and Warden has 71 draw controls.

Towson boasts one Tewaaraton Top 25 nominee in sophomore defender Olivia Conti, its first player to earn the nod since 2012. She has a team-high 44 caused turnovers. Offensively, Natalie Sulmonte headlines with 52 points, adding a team-best 68 draw controls, while Emily Gillingham and Carly Tellekamp have 40 goals apiece.  

The Dukes are having one of their hottest seasons yet, suffering just one loss at the hands of Maryland by three goals, and Towson only has two blemishes on the year, falling to Loyola early in triple overtime and later undefeated No. 1 Stony Brook.

As history likes to repeat itself, this showdown will be one fans won’t want to miss. It pits the No. 2 (Towson) and No. 4 (James Madison) scoring defenses against each other, as well as the No. 10 (Dukes) and No. 23 (Tigers) scoring offenses.

Other games highlighting the weekend include conference tournaments:

  • ACC Tournament

    The semifinals are set for Friday. All but one of the higher seeded teams in the quarterfinals advanced in the ACC tournament.

    Undefeated and top-seeded Boston College (18-0) will play No. 5 seed Notre Dame (10-8), which upset No. 4 Virginia for the spot. No. 2 seed North Carolina (13-3) dominated Syracuse to set up another meeting with No. 3 seed Virginia Tech (13-5), which topped Duke by one goal in a five-hour late night battle Thursday due to weather delays.

    The Eagles are the favorite to cruise through the bracket, having yet to lose a game this year, but the Irish have a fire and fight in them that will drive them tonight. Notre Dame’s best wins of the year came against Duke and Syracuse, the latter in overtime, as well as Virginia most recently. BC and Notre Dame haven’t seen each other since their season opener on Feb. 10, which the Eagles won 13-11.

    The Tar Heels are also likely the favorite against the newcomers to the bracket, the Hokies, whose win against Duke marked their first ever in the ACC tournament. Virginia Tech has beaten Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia. Their previous meeting saw UNC barely scraping by the Hokies by just one goal for the win, providing upset potential for today’s semi. 

    Winners advance to the ACC final Sunday.

    The teams that were already eliminated are now grasping for at-large bids. Both the Cavaliers and Orange finished the season 9-9, which is the bare minimum to qualify for the NCAA tournament. A .500 record is necessary to be considered for an at-large bid.

    Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they sit with a 7-9 record. They play one more regular season game on May 6 against East Carolina, but even with a win, Duke will finish just shy of that .500 record at 8-9.​

  • Pac-12 Tournament

    The Pac-12 semifinals are also set for today after No. 4 seed Oregon (9-8) dominated No. 5 seed Cal (6-12) and No. 3 seed USC (10-7) defeated No. 6 seed Arizona State (6-12).

    The Ducks will face host and top-seeded Colorado (12-4), while the Trojans square off with second-seeded Stanford (13-4).

    The Buffs may be the favorite on their home turf, having won the inaugural regular season title, but it’s anyone’s game come tournament time. USC and Stanford have a history of success from their past conference, the MPSF, in which they combined to win 11 of 14 conference titles.

    Pending tournament results, the Pac-12 could be a three-bid league to the NCAA tournament this year. The championship takes place Sunday.

  • MAAC Tournament

    The MAAC quarterfinals kick off Saturday as No. 6 seed Iona (8-9) heads to No. 3 Fairfield (10-6) and No. 5 seed Niagara (8-9) plays at No. 4 Canisius (9-8).

    On May 3, top-seeded Marist (10-6) will play the lowest advancing seed, while second-seeded Monmouth (8-9) will face the highest advancing seed.

    This is a one-bid league. The conference tournament winner will advance to the NCAA tournament.

Games On Our Radar

All times are listed in ET. For a full list of broadcast games, please visit our US Lacrosse TV listing page, presented by Nationwide.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

3 p.m.

Oregon at No. 11 Colorado, Pac-12 Semifinal at Colorado (Pac-12 Network)

5 p.m.

Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Boston College, ACC Semifinal at Duke (WatchESPN)

6 p.m.

USC vs. No. 14 Stanford, Pac-12 Semifinal at Colorado (Pac-12 Network)

8 p.m.

No. 13 Virginia Tech vs. No. 5 North Carolina, ACC Semifinal at Duke (WatchESPN)

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

11 a.m.

Iona at Fairfield, MAAC Quarterfinal (MAAC.TV)

12 p.m.

No. 1 Stony Brook at Albany (AmericaEast.TV)
Butler at No. 6 Florida (YouTube)
No. 8 Penn at Yale (Ivy League Network)
No. 15 Dartmouth at Brown (Ivy League Network)

1 p.m.

Holy Cross at No. 9 Loyola (Patriot League Network)
Boston University at No. 12 Navy (WatchStadium.com)
No. 20 Princeton at Columbia (Ivy League Network)
Johns Hopkins at Rutgers (BTN2Go)
Cornell at Harvard (Ivy League Network)
Georgetown at Temple (OWLSTV)

2 p.m.

Michigan at No. 16 Penn State (BTN2Go)

7 p.m.

Niagara at Canisius, MAAC Quarterfinal (ESPN+)

SUNDAY, APRIL 29

1 p.m.

ACC Championship (WatchESPN)

2 p.m.

Pac-12 Championship (Pac-12 Network)