NEWARK — Delaware avenged a four-goal loss to James Madison during the regular season by downing the Dukes, 3-1, in the Colonial Athletic Association field hockey championship game.

The No. 22 Blue Hens (5-1 CAA, 12-8 overall) tallied the first three goals in the contest played at UD’s Rullo Stadium.

The tournament title is Delaware’s third straight and eighth in nine seasons. With the win, the Hens earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament.

On Sunday evening, Delaware found out it will be facing Fairfield (14-7) in their NCAA tourney opener. The winner gets to face top-seeded Rutgers (18-3), the Big Ten champion.

“What a beautiful performance and focused Delaware field hockey today,” said coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. “I think from start to finish we were in control. We needed to find the groove a little bit, which makes sense in the championship game.

“Kudos to our players group for staying the course. We played our best hockey of the season so far, maybe all of 2021 today. We have gotten stronger and gained more confidence, but we are also more relaxed. We’ve come a long way and I think now we are a hard team to beat.”

Just under two minutes into the second period, Kiki Oudshoorn received a long pass up the middle, sprinting into the circle. She took the Dukes’ goalkeeper, Florien Marcussen, one-on-one, smacking the ball into the back of the cage for the Hen’s first goal.

Delaware, which fell to JMU 4-0 on Oct. 15, closed out the first half on a goal by Morgan Rigual, after tipping in a pass from Oudshoorn. The goal was Rigual’s third in two tourney games.

In the ninth minute of the third period, Ashlyn Carr (Delmar High) turned around in the circle, drilling a shot from the left side into the back of the cage, giving the Blue Hens a 3-0 lead.

Eveline Zwager put No. 24 James Madison (6-0 CAA, 12-7 overall) on the board at the end of the third quarter, driving a shot in on a tough angle to get the Dukes to within 3-1.

But Delaware goalkeeper Lizzie Gaebel made six saves in the fourth quarter to close out the win. Gaebel tied her season-high eight saves in the win.

Oudshoorn, Carr and Gaebel earned CAA All-Tournament honors, while Defensive Player of the Year Julia Duffhuis earned the tournaments’ Most Outstanding Player award.

With JMU announcing on Saturday that it is leaving the CAA to join the Sun Belt Conference, this might be the last time the two programs play each other. Delaware now leads the all-time series, 18-12.