March 4, 2007

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. - George Mason's women's lacrosse team lost a heartbreaker to in-state rival Virginia Tech, 8-7, on a goal by the Hokies' Rachel Culp with seven seconds left in regulation in a nonconference match-up on Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Tech Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. The loss is the first the Patriots have ever been dealt by the Hokies in Blacksburg.

George Mason struck first in the contest, a little more than five minutes in, with a goal from Kelly Davis. However, Jenna Reich responded 40 seconds later with Tech's first goal of the contest, evening the score at one apiece. After Reich's goal, the Patriots rattled off three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead into the intermission.

Virginia Tech's Lindsay Pieper recorded the first goal of the second half, at the 24:13 mark, on a free-position shot. However, the Patriots responded quickly when Brittany Berger won the ensuing draw control and flipped a quick, long pass, to Laura King for Mason's fifth goal of the game, 23 seconds later.

Davis added to the Patriots lead 10 minutes into the second half, with her second goal of the contest, putting Mason up 6-2. That would be the Patriots' largest lead of the game.

Tech's Terri Coover notched her first goal of the season at the 16:32 mark and then added a second, eight minutes later, cutting Mason's lead to 6-4. King put her third goal of the game past the Hokies' keeper, sophomore Kari Morrison, at the 6:10 mark, but back-to-back goals from Kady McBrearty brought the Hokies within a goal with 3:37 to play.

Culp won the following draw and carried the ball into the Hokies' offensive end, before freshman Faith Richards dished a pass to Pieper, who tallied her second goal of the afternoon, to even the score at seven.

George Mason won the next draw and carried it towards Tech's defense. Virginia Tech's Sam Titus forced a Mason turnover and sophomore Christina Griel picked up the groundball. Tech lost possession, though, and the Patriots appeared poised to score as King looked to fire her fourth goal past Morrison. But Morrison came up with her 10th save of the day and cleared the ball out of Tech's defensive end.

The Hokies fired a shot wide with 18 seconds remaining, but Gray picked up the loose ball and dished it to Culp for the game-winning goal. Mason won the final draw control, but the clock ran out before the Patriots were able to put anything together.

King finished with a game-high three goals, while Davis had two. Berger and Alex Velesz each contributed one. Maggie Bridges picked up a game-high 11 ground balls and goalkeeper Sara Longobucco stopped 12 shots.

George Mason will host No. 3 Georgetown on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. at George Mason Stadium. It will be the first game of the season at George Mason Stadium as the home opener against American on March 1 was played at Robinson Field.