It’ll always be remembered as the year cut short.

But before the coronavirus put every level of sport on hiatus, there were moments that mattered.

And players, coaches, and teams at James Madison experienced those epic pinnacles. Sure, the possibilities were endless for the Dukes’ nationally-ranked lacrosse squad, the typically postseason-bound softball program along with a surging baseball team. Conference tournaments for those spring sports were scheduled for this month.

Instead, though, JMU can celebrate all the positives to come from the abbreviated 2019-20 campaign. Here’s a look back at the best moments – in chronological order – for the athletic program this past academic year.

Date: Oct. 5, 2019

The third consecutive road game in as many weeks proved to be a tall task for the JMU football team, needing overtime to survive giving away four turnovers for a 45-38 thrilling victory over a never-quitting Stony Brook bunch.

“And at the end of the day, you’ve got to win a game like that sometimes to have a great season,” Dukes coach Curt Cignetti said afterward.

In the extra frame, defensive end John Daka’s pressure on Seawolves quarterback Tyquell Fields forced Fields to scramble into Dukes linebacker Landan Word, who was there to record a sack and setup Stony Brook’s last shot on a fourth-and-18 while trailing by seven points. The last desperation heave toward the end zone from Fields fell incomplete and JMU walked off a winner.

To open the overtime, JMU needed just two plays before running back Jawon Hamilton recorded the game-sealing touchdown on a 3-yard run.

“We’re made for games like this,” Hamilton, who rushed for 105 yards and two scores that night, said. “You get put in a tough situation like this and Stony Brook is a good team, so we just came out there like we knew we were the better team. So in overtime, it’s ‘Let’s just drive it down their throat and do what we do.’”

Date: Oct. 12, 2019

The energy necessary to win the week before looked like it might catch up with the football Dukes during their top-five clash with Villanova.

The Wildcats led into the fourth quarter and had all the momentum, riding the arm of signal-caller Daniel Smith, who had thrown for three touchdowns during the first three quarters.

But that was until Daka forced Villanova running back TD Ayo-Durojaiye to fumble on the opening play of the final stanza. Three snaps later, JMU quarterback Ben DiNucci threw a 26-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Brandon Polk to even the score and set the stage for safety MJ Hampton’s unexpected game-winning moment.

“I was just speechless,” Hampton said. “It’s just something I haven’t really been part of that’s this big before.”

Hampton’s interception of Smith and return of 83 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing Villanova possession sent an on-edge crowd at Bridgeforth Stadium into a crescendo, reaching the loudest pandemonium of the season.

Hampton, who backed up starting safety D’Angelo Amos, was in the game because Amos was ejected earlier in the contest for targeting.

Date: Nov. 17, 2019

After reaching the NCAA quarterfinals the year before, the JMU men’s soccer team had to earn the Colonial Athletic Association championship crown to secure back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament.

And it was a thriller between top-seeded host UNC Wilmington and the No. 2-seed visiting Dukes. The two sides were outstanding on defense for the entirety of regulation and through the first overtime. But in the second extra period, JMU’s Niclas Mohr netted the game-winning goal to give JMU the win, its second straight CAA title, and a berth to the NCAA tournament.

The Dukes finished the year 11-7-3 after falling to Campbell in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Date: Dec. 13, 2019

JMU’s football defense couldn’t have been better than it was in the team’s 17-0 blanking of Northern Iowa in the FCS quarterfinals. Using five sacks and two forced fumbles, the Dukes held the Panthers to 114 total yards to secure the first postseason shutout win in JMU history.

“That sends a message,” JMU defensive end Ron’Dell Carter said.

Linebacker Dimitri Holloway led the team with eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

“It was evident they gave us a lot of trouble,” Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said of Daka, who had two sacks, and Carter, who had one. “They got good speed, good strength and they were disruptive and that was evident to the quarterback.”

JMU propelled forward with a semifinal win over Weber State the next week before losing the FCS championship game and finishing as the national runner-up to North Dakota State in January.

Date: Feb. 22, 2020

As soon as JMU baseball pitcher Justin Showalter entered the weekend rotation, he proved he belonged. His complete-game, one-hit shutout of Quinnipiac showed exactly what he’s capable of.

“With him throwing as many strikes as he throws, his pitch count doesn’t get up,” Dukes skipper Marlin Ikenberry said, “so he can go longer in the game to get decisions and that was a neat thing to see.”

Against the Bobcats, Showalter, a Turner Ashby graduate, threw just 100 pitches, struck out six hitters and walked only one. He also recorded 13 groundball outs as he made a point, he said, throughout the shortened but successful season, to use the fielders behind him to get through opposing lineups. The one-hitter was the first for the program since 2009.

Date: Feb. 22, 2020

On the same day as Showalter’s gem, the Dukes’ swimming and diving squad took care of business by capturing its third straight CAA championship in Christiansburg.

Julianna Jones took gold in the 1650-yard freestyle event and the four-woman team of Megan Marsh, Bonnie Zhang, MacKenzie Gring and Sydney Kirsch won 400-yard freestyle medley. Diver Emily Gross tied for gold in the 1-meter final. JMU finished first ahead of second-place William & Mary.

Date: Feb. 28, 2020

Guards Kamiah Smalls and Kiki Jefferson each had 15 points to help the JMU women’s basketball team pummel Drexel 69-39 in a critical CAA contest. The Dragons entered the day on a 13-game winning streak and leading the Dukes by a game in the conference standings, but JMU was up to task and tied Drexel for first place with the victory.

“I was proud of how we played, how we came out and set the tone early,” JMU coach Sean O’Regan said.

JMU held Drexel to a 17.6 percent clip from the field while scoring 38 points in the paint to Drexel’s 10 points in the paint. Guard Jackie Benitez tallied 14 points and forward Kayla Cooper-Williams added nine to go along with 14 rebounds.

“The statement can be that we figured ourselves out a little bit,” O’Regan said.

Date: March 1, 2020

Though, O’Regan’s squad had aspiration of winning the CAA tournament and reaching the NCAA tournament, both of which were canceled due to COVID-19, the Dukes capped their season in memorable fashion. JMU outlasted Delaware, 69-64, on senior day in the final game at the Convocation Center where the Dukes walked off the court under a siege of falling streamers.

“I felt like the energy from the crowd got us going,” Benitez said.

Smalls’ 21 points were a team best, and Benitez added 20 points. A 3-point shot from Lexie Barrier gave JMU a 10-point lead with about a minute to play.

“That’s a really tough game to play,” O’Regan said. “It’s an emotional day and weekend. I think it’s harder than everyone anticipated with the five seniors, knowing it is the last game in the Convo and it’s a must-win game against a team that came in here very hungry to try to make their mark.”

JMU finished 25-4 overall.

Date: March 6, 2020

When it happened Kate Gordon didn’t know she had done it, she said.

Against Connecticut at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Gordon belted two home runs to become the Dukes’ all-time leader.

“I don’t ever look at that stuff,” Gordon, the Page County product said. “I just want to win. I don’t care about my own success, but the coolest thing is I’m on a list with some of the best hitters that I’ve looked up to like Jaylin [Ford], Erica Field and Taylor Newton. Those are players still to this day that I want to be like, and so to be on a list with those girls is an honor.”

Gordon hit five home runs in the team’s last five games to give her 50 home runs for her career.

Date: April 17, 2020

Her senior season at JMU was stopped prematurely, but the career of Smalls is just beginning. Last month, Smalls became just the fourth JMU product ever selected during the WNBA Draft when the Indiana Fever selected her in the third round with the 28th overall choice.

“I had no expectations going into this,” Smalls said during a teleconference with reporters after the event. “I was taking a big chance. The mid-major schools, we don’t get a lot of love. I was honestly expecting a training camp contract. I’m not going to lie. In that moment, I didn’t know what to do but scream.”

As a senior with the Dukes, she averaged 18.6 points per game to go along with 83 assists and 40 steals, and was the CAA Player of the Year. For her career, she averaged 14.5 points per game and was a three-time All-CAA first-team choice.

The three previous Dukes to be chosen during the WNBA Draft were Jazmon Gwathmey (Minnesota Lynx, 2016) and Lauren Okafor (Atlanta Dream, 2015) and Tamera Young (Atlanta, 2008).

Date: April 25, 2020

For the second straight year, a former member of the Dukes was taken during the NFL Draft when the Dallas Cowboys picked DiNucci in the seventh round with selection No. 231 overall.

“Just seeing my name pop up on that TV,” DiNucci said, “and having Mr. [Cowboys owner Jerry] Jones call me and tell me they were picking me, I haven’t cried like that in a while.”

In his two seasons with the Dukes after transferring from Pittsburgh, DiNucci completed 70 percent of his throws for 5,716 yards. He rushed 1,002 yards, accounted for 61 total touchdowns (45 passing and 16 rushing) and only threw 18 interceptions. He was the CAA Offensive Player of the Year this past fall.

His selection marked the first time since 1999 (Tony Booth by the Carolina Panthers) and 2000 (Curtis Keaton by the Cincinnati Bengals) JMU had draft picks in consecutive years. Cornerback Jimmy Moreland was a seventh-round pick of the Washington Redskins last year.