Warden, Klaes-Bawcombe Headline CAA Lacrosse Awards, Seven Named All-CAA

2017 May 9

For the second consecutive season, James Madison reeled in two major yearly conference honors, as junior midfielder Haley Warden was voted Colonial Athletic Association Women's Lacrosse Player of the Year, and Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe was tabbed Coach of the Year, the league office announced Thursday afternoon.

Warden collected the program's 13th CAA Player of the Year after proving to be a consistent producer in all three areas, ranging from scoring, midfield dominance and stout defensive pressure. She scored 22 goals and seven assists for 29 points while being one of the league's top players in draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls, in which she was the lone player in the CAA to rank in the top three of each category.

The Glen Mills, Pa., native ranks 12th nationally in caused turnovers (2.35) and is just one shy of tying the JMU single-season record of 41. She also leads the team in both draw controls (56) and ground balls (47), which ranks third and tied for 14th, respectively, on the program's single-season list. Warden tallied 14 games with eight or more hustle stats, leading JMU's return to defensive prominence in which the team had a +6.0 scoring margin during conference play (13.67 - 7.67).

Klaes-Bawcombe repeated as the league's top coach after guiding the Dukes to the outright regular-season championship with a 5-1 conference mark. After graduating eight senior starters in 2016, she led a much younger Dukes team to their seventh winning season over the past eight years, which included a tremendous defensive improvement. The Dukes rank second in the CAA in scoring offense (12.88) and scoring defense (8.59) with a scoring margin of +4.29 goals per outing. JMU's goals against average ranks 11th nationally and the team is 13th in Division I in caused turnovers (11.29).

It was Klaes-Bawcombe's fourth career CAA Coach of the Year laurel and her third as head coach for the Dukes (2010, 2016, 2017). She becomes the fourth coach in league history to win the award four times, trailing only Old Dominion's Sue Stahl, who won five.

Seven Dukes were recognized on the All-CAA teams, as Warden, junior attacker Kristen Gaudian and junior midfielder Elena Romesburg earned spots on the All-CAA First Team. Junior attacker Katie Kerrigan and junior defender Rebecca Tooker were named to the All-CAA Second Team, while freshman defender Emma Johnson and freshman midfielder Maddie McDaniel were voted to the CAA All-Rookie Team. In addition, Romesburg was JMU's team representative on the All-Academic Team.

Gaudian led the Dukes with 42 goals and added six assists for the team's second best point total, at 48. The Fairfax Station, Va., native was sixth in the CAA in goals per game (2.47). During CAA play alone, she tied for the league lead with 20 goals over the six-game slate. She was tremendous from inside the 8-meter, tallying 13 goals on the free-position, which is tied for third best in the conference. During the regular season, Gaudian produced eight hat tricks and had four or more points eight times, which included career highs of five goals and seven points at Drexel.

Romesburg is a pivotal piece of the draw-control unit and defensive group, as the two-way midfielder aided in JMU ranking second in both offense and defense in the CAA. She scored 29 goals and had 10 assists for 39 points. She consistently contributed in all phases, ranking fifth in the CAA in ground balls (2.59). She is second for the Dukes with 44 ground balls, to go with 35 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers. The Chalfont, Pa., native scored in 15 of 17 games, averaging 2.2 points per game, and won at least one draw control in each outing.

Kerrigan broke out in her first season of consistent action, leading the team in both assists and points. She tallied 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points and ranks second in the conference and 26th nationally in assists (2.12). Kerrigan has an innate ability to create offensive opportunities both for herself and her teammates, as she was held pointless just twice this season. Her assist total ranks third in JMU single-season history, and she is already just three shy of the career top 20. The Oakton, Va., native had seven games with three or more assists and had three hat tricks on the year.

Tooker led the defensive effort, as the Dukes ranked second in scoring defense, allowing 8.59 goals per game. The junior captain guided the defense to rank second in the conference in both caused turnovers and ground balls. Tooker accrued 26 caused turnovers, 21 ground balls and 15 draw controls during the regular season. The Eastport, N.Y., native's caused-turnover average (1.53) also ranked seventh in the CAA.

Johnson was the lone JMU freshman to earn a starting spot, as she was in the starting lineup of all 17 regular-season games. She is the team's second-best one-versus-one defender, and her strong stick skills made her a consistent contributor in the defensive third. The Laurel, Md., native tallied 23 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers and seven draw controls, earning CAA Rookie of the Week honors one time. Johnson had career highs of four caused turnovers and four ground balls in JMU's 20-goal win against Longwood.

McDaniel was JMU's top rookie scorer, serving as one of the program's top-two scoring threats off the bench. The Severna Park, Md., native scored 19 goals, to go with seven draw controls and seven ground balls. McDaniel recorded four hat tricks, including a career-high four scores against No. 1 Maryland.

Towson led all teams with nine total all-conference selections, including a league-high four First Team All-CAA honorees. JMU and Delaware each had seven All-CAA awards, as the Dukes were second in the conference with three first team laurels.

Aside of Warden and Klaes-Bawcombe being selected as the league's top Player and Coach of the Year, Towson's Olivia Conti was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Hofstra's Alyssa Parella was recognized as Rookie of the Year.

The Dukes begin postseason play Friday as the CAA Championship's top seed. JMU faces fourth-seeded Delaware at 4 p.m. from Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md.

JMU All-CAA Selections

First Team

• Kristen Gaudian, Attack
• Elena Romesburg, Midfield
• Haley Warden, Midfield

Second Team

• Katie Kerrigan, Attack
• Rebecca Tooker, Defense

All-Rookie

• Emma Johnson, Defense
• Maddie McDaniel, Midfield

All-Academic

• Elena Romesburg, Midfield

CAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Haley Warden
CAA COACH OF THE YEAR: Shelley-Klaes-Bawcombe