The Jacksonville University women’s lacrosse team is in the ASUN Championship game again after a rare absence last year.
Ainsley Scruggs, Maeve Brennan and Maddi Santini scored three goals each and Scruggs had four assists as the No. 2-seeded Dolphins shook off an hour-long weather delay at halftime to rout No. 3 Liberty 17-3 on April 30 at Rock Stadium to earn a berth in the title game at 1 p.m. on May 2.
JU (12-5) will play top-seeded Delaware (13-4), which beat No. 4 Lindenwood 10-4 in the other semifinal. The championship game will be live-streamed on ESPN+, with the winner earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Dolphins had a streak of 11 consecutive championship game berths snapped last year when it lost in the semifinals 11-10 to Coastal Carolina ― one year after the Chanticleers interrupted JU’s streak of six consecutive tournament championships with a 10-9 victory.
The difference this year is that Jacksonville did not win the ASUN regular season title for the first time in seven seasons. Delaware, playing in the ASUN for the first year, nipped the Dolphins 14-13 at home on March 26, outscoring JU 7-2 over the final 21 minutes to end the Dolphins’ 19-game regular-season conference winning streak.
The Blue Hens finished the regular season 7-0, but JU rebounded from that loss to win their next four ASUN regular-season games by an average score of 18-5 and then beat the Flames (7-11) for the 15th time in 16 meetings.
Five players scored the first five goals for JU to open the game, with Scruggs assisting the first four. The Dolphins closed out the first half by scoring the last four goals, Katie Colavito unassisted with JU having a player advantage, Maggie Cuddy scored a short-handed unassisted goal 13 seconds later, and Scruggs netting the final two.
JU outscored Liberty 5-0 in the third quarter after the weather delay, with Brennan collecting two goals.
Delaware pulled away from a 5-4 halftime lead to blank the Lions 5-0 in the second half. ASUN Offensive Player of the Year Ella Rishko had four goals, three in the first half and the final goal of the game.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JU earns a rematch with Delaware in ASUN women’s lacrosse championship
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
