1994 NCAA Champion Field Hockey Team (2014) - JMU Athletics Hall of Fame

1994 NCAA Champion Field Hockey Team

Induction:
2014

JMU joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 1991 and, in that same year, brought on Christy Morgan to take over leadership of the program.

In 1994, JMU took the CAA regular season title with a perfect 6-0 mark and 16-2-1 record overall, earning sophomore Carole Thate the CAA Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year and fielding four Dukes on All-CAA squads. However, the Dukes slipped in the CAA Tournament title game to Old Dominion in overtime, with Thate still garnering the MVP honors.

Madison earned an at-large berth along with a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament. In the second round in Norfolk, Virginia, JMU defeated Penn State 1-0 in double overtime to advance to the Final Four. The national semifinals, held in Boston, Massachusetts, matched the Dukes with Northwestern, where JMU prevailed 1-0. Playing in their first-ever national championship game against top-seeded North Carolina, the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw through two overtimes. In penalty strokes, JMU defeated the Tar Heels and took home the school's first-ever NCAA crown.

With the Dukes' national title, Morgan became the first person in NCAA field hockey history to win a national championship as both a coach and a player (Old Dominion – 1982, 1983, 1984).