April 17, 2005
Final Stats
Hempstead, NY - Senior defender Bridget Eder had an unbelievable nine caused turnovers along with four draw controls, three ground balls and her third goal of the season, and sophomore midfielder Casey McGrath tallied a game-high four points (three goals, one assist) to lead the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team to a 12-10 victory over George Mason on Sunday afternoon at sunny James M. Shuart Stadium.
With the win, Hofstra clinches the regular season Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title and earns the right to host the upcoming CAA Championship on April 30 and May 1. It will mark the first time that Hofstra has hosted a postseason tournament since the Pride captured the 2001 America East title at then-Hofstra Stadium. Hofstra will be making its third appearance in the CAA Championship, after having advanced to the tournament in both 2002 and 2003.
Hofstra improves to 13-2 overall with the victory and ups its CAA mark to 6-1. The win was Hofstra's second straight and ninth in its last 10 games. Hofstra's 13 wins this season are tied for the second most in program history with the 1996 squad (13-3) and ranks only behind 2001 (16-3) for most wins in a season. George Mason falls to 5-9 overall and 4-2 in conference play with the loss. The loss ended a two-game CAA win streak for the Patriots.
In a game of runs, it was George Mason who struck first as Alex Velesz scored just 1:12 into the game and Christina Frank put the Patriots ahead 2-0 with a free-position goal at the 27:05 mark. Following a goal from each squad, it was Hofstra who had the next run in them as they tallied three straight to lead 4-3 with 16:06 left in the first half. Eder's third goal of the season was the final tally in the run and senior midfielder Tara Buecker scored the first two goals of the run to get the Pride started. With Hofstra leading 6-5 after both teams found the back of the net twice, George Mason's Kristy Manas evened the score with just six seconds left before intermission with an unassisted goal.
Hofstra looked to take control of the contest as they scored twice in the first 1:34 of the second half, including the first scores of the game for junior midfielder Becky Thorn and McGrath. Mason still had a run left in them though, and the Patriots would go on to score four straight goals over a seven-minute span and lead 10-8 with just over 20 minutes remaining. Sarah Bryant got the run started with a goal at the 27:48 mark off a feed from Melissa Venturi and Bryant would notch the final goal of the run on a free-position shot. With a chance to host the conference tournament on the line, Hofstra was not to be denied, and the Pride would score the game's final four goals to earn a hard-fought 12-10 victory over the Patriots. After senior midfielder Caitlin Connolly got Hofstra within one at the 17:16 mark, McGrath scored two straight to give Hofstra the lead for good. McGrath's third goal of the game, which proved to be the game-winner, came off a pass from senior attack Jen Maget (Nesconset, NY).
Sophomore attack Kim Hillier totaled a game-high six ground balls in the game and also totaled two points (one goal, one assist). Maget tied Eder for game-high honors in draw controls with four, and freshman goalie Maisie Osteen earned the win after making three saves in nearly 53 minutes of action.
Bryant finished with three goals for the Patriots, while Velesz scored twice and assisted on another. Bryant led Mason with four ground balls, and Michele Brady had a team-high four caused turnovers. Meg Dentler took the loss for George Mason despite making a game-high 13 saves.
