Harrisonburg, VA - Senior Katie Whelan had a game-high four goals, while senior Alyssa Parrella added a goal and four assists, but #20 James Madison jumped out to an early lead and would go on to defeat #25 Hofstra, 14-7, on Friday evening at Sentara Park in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship. 

Hofstra slips to 6-6 overall, while James Madison improves to 10-4. The teams split their two meetings this season with the Pride capturing a 13-7 win over the Dukes on April 10. 

Hofstra, which has now played a school-record eight consecutive ranked opponents, will wait until Sunday evening to hear if it receives an at-large berth to the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship. The Pride's two previous NCAA Tournament appearances came in 2001 and 2007. 

Whelan opened the scoring in the game with an unassisted tally at the 24:06 mark. The Pride would lead 2-1 after a goal from Parrella nearly five minutes later before James Madison scored four consecutive goals to open up a 5-2 advantage at the 10:12 mark. Whelan would score two more goals in the final eight-plus minutes to give her a first half hat trick, but the Dukes took a 7-4 lead into the break. 

James Madison took control to start the second stanza as the Dukes scored the first four goals of the half to take a commanding lead. The Pride would get two back as Whelan found the back of the net and was followed by a goal from junior Grace Langella to make it 11-6. Later in the half, junior Camryn Faith scored her first of the game to account for Hofstra's seventh goal of the game, but two late goals from the home squad accounted for the final score. 


Parrella added team-highs of three draw controls and three ground balls, while graduate student Darcie Smith tallied two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Graduate student Alexa Mattera posted two ground balls and two draw controls, while junior Jess Smith made nine saves in net for the Pride. 

Isabella Peterson and Charlotte Haggerty each had three goals and an assist for James Madison. 

ESPNU will exclusively present the first-ever joint NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Lacrosse Championships Selection Special on Sunday, May 9, at 9 p.m.

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 7-20 all-time against James Madison. 
- The hat trick was the 12th of the career for Whelan and her third this season. 
- Parrella now has 258 goals in her career, tying her with Amy Appelt of Virginia (2002-05) for 11th all-time in NCAA history.