April 8, 2006
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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - After playing to a draw in the first period, with each team scoring 10 goals, the 17th-ranked William and Mary Tribe pulled away from George Mason in the second period, outscoring the Patriots 6-2 to claim a 16-12 victory in Colonial Athletic Association women's lacrosse action on Friday night. The loss is the first of the season for Mason in conference play.
Mason (6-4, 2-1) was led by sophomore Laura King's five goals, while junior Melissa Curry netted three and junior Melissa Venturi added a goal and two assists for the Patriots. William and Mary attacker Colleen Dalon had five goals and three assists to match her career-high of eight points, but the senior's three goals over the final 20 minutes helped lead the Tribe to a victory in a tense, high-scoring contest between two conference rivals. Debby Petracca, who entered the game at the start of the second, picked up the victory in net for W&M (7-4, 2-1 CAA) in her first action since facing Richmond back on March 8.
The Patriots' resilient attack, combined with 23 Tribe turnovers, kept Mason in the contest. The Tribe raced out to a 3-0 lead with unassisted goals by Dalon, Morgan Lang and Jamie Fitzgerald in the opening four minutes, and W&M would again build a three-goal lead in the first, when Emily Vitrano scored the second of her two goals just 18 seconds apart on a Dalon assist, running the score to 10-7 with 3:20 remaining. But, Venturi answered less than a minute later, and King scored her third with 1:39 on the clock, before Curry burned the Tribe in transition after a costly turnover, tying the game, 10-10, with just six seconds remaining in the first.
Mason scored four goals in the first half on free-position attempts, going 4-for-6 in the period. Curry got the Patriots on the board with a free-position goal at the 23:04 mark, and junior Jess Shelton converted a free-position shot that pulled Mason within a goal at 4-3 with 19:55 remaining. Laura Lindsay ripped a shot past Mason goaltender Roxie Alsruhe off a feed from Kristen Wong with 18:30 remaining in the first to push Mason's deficit back to two, but senior Sarah Bryant and Curry scored goals just 36 seconds apart to knot the game, 5-5, with 17:01 on the clock.
Lindsay continued the offensive fireworks minutes later, assisting on La Nolan's goal that put W&M back on top, 6-5, but King's second with 12:51 to go once again evened things up. Dalon scored unassisted at the 10:11 mark, then assisted on Nolan's second with 8:22 remaining to push the Tribe lead to 8-6, but Bryant converted another Mason free-position attempt with 6:47 left before the break to cut the Patriots' deficit to one.
Nolan corralled the ensuing draw for W&M, but one of the Tribe's 10 first-half turnovers gave it right back to Mason. After the Patriots couldn't clear the zone, though, Wong battled and scooped a key ground ball after a Tribe shot, which eventually led to Vitrano's first on a free-position shot and a 9-7 advantage. Vitrano picked up the next draw and quickly worked into the attack zone, giving it up to Dalon, then getting it back and scoring her second just 18 seconds later to extend the cushion back to three, before Mason's 3-0 run to close the half.
Mason controlled the opening draw in the second half, but Lang's fourth caused turnover of the game gave W&M possession, and moments later, Jaime Sellers made a strong charge to goal down the left side, whipping her seventh of the season into the net 53 seconds into the period. Lizzy Bayly controlled the reset, and Fitzgerald gave the Tribe a 12-10 lead with a free-position goal at the 28:11 mark, before the ball had even entered Petracca's zone.
W&M, which scored its six second-half goals on just nine shots and held a 7-2 advantage on draws in the final period, saw its lead grow to three, again, when Dalon hooked up with Vitrano once more to give the Tribe a 13-10 advantage with 25:34 remaining. Petracca stopped the first Mason shot she saw, but the Patriots had one more run with back-to-back goals by King, the second coming with 20:50 on the clock to trim the Tribe lead to 13-12. But, after another Vitrano draw control, Dalon scored unassisted just 1:03 later. Dalon tacked on her fourth with 17:55 remaining, and Petracca took over for W&M from there.
The Patriots had several shots to get back in the game, but Petracca turned them all away, holding Mason scoreless for the final 20:50 of the game.
George Mason is back in action on Sunday, facing the Old Dominion Monarchs at 1 p.m. in CAA action at George Mason Stadium. It will be the final home game of the season for the Patriots. Four seniors - Michele Brady, Sarah Bryant, Jennifer Thomas and Robyn Yeatman - will be honored prior to the game.
