Peterson, Matey and McElwee earn The American Player of the Week honors

IRVING, Texas James Madison lacrosse saw a trio of players named American Athletic Conference weekly honors as redshirt juniors Isabella Peterson was named Offensive Player of the Week, a redshirt senior Rachel Matey was awarded Defensive Player of the Week and redshirt freshman Caitlin McElwee received league freshman of the week on Monday.

Peterson won his fifth and Matey his fourth award from the league this season, while McElwee earned his first honor. The awards were handed out in East Carolina on Saturday following a 19-5 victory to end the regular season.

Peterson had a big afternoon offensively on Saturday, scoring six goals to surpass Gail Decker’s all-time scoring record of 202 career goals. He had his 14th hat trick of the season in the first quarter and went 6-of-7 (.857) on the day. Peterson also added six steals against the Pirates.

He became the first player with two 70-goal seasons in JMU history and is 12 goals shy of the single-season record. Peterson is third in the nation in goals-against average (4.12) and third in scoring average (5.18), both tops in America.

Matey tied a season high with nine takedowns and blanked ECU by himself as JMU held a 20-7 advantage in that stat. He added two ground balls and one caused turnover to the stat sheet. The defense allowed just five goals and 13 total shots, which were the third fewest goals allowed and fewest shots allowed in JMU’s regular season games.

Phoenixville, Pa. native leads JMU and is tied for fifth in the American with 4.59 draw controls per game and his total of 78 is the sixth most in a single season at JMU. He also ranks 10th in the league in ground balls, averaging 2.0 per game (34 total).

McElwee had two goals for the first time in his career on Saturday, converting both of his shots and adding an assist and a ground ball. He has scored five goals and added two assists in 11 games.

Redshirt senior goalie Kat Buchanan made the league’s Honor Roll on Monday. He made five saves for a .500 save percentage against ECU, adding two ground balls and causing a turnover to his stat line.

Well. 6 JMU (16-1, 6-0) opens postseason play with a matchup against fourth-ranked Cincinnati in the American Tournament semifinals. The Bearcats (11-6, 3-3) entered the tournament coming off a Temple loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

American Athletic Conference Weekly Awards

• Rachel Matey Defensive (February 20, April 3, April 10, May 1)
• Isabella Peterson Attack (February 27, March 13, March 20, April 10, May 1)
• Maddie Epke Freshman (February 27, March 20, April 10)
• Kat Buchanan Goalkeeper (March 6, March 27)
• Margaret Durkin Defensive (March 6, April 17)
• Or Jankowski Attack (March 6, March 27, April 24)
• Brianna Mennella Freshman (March 13)
• Lilly Boswell Midfielder (April 17)
• Caitlin McElwee Freshman (May 1)