April 3, 2009

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The George Mason women's lacrosse team held a four-goal lead with less than 15 minutes to play but the Patriots needed overtime to pull off a victory at Drexel as Mason beat the Dragons, 13-11. Mason is now 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and 5-4 overall. Drexel is 7-3 overall and 0-1 in conference games.

Madalyn Jamison had five goals including the game-winner with 3:15 to go in overtime. Sara Longobucco made 15 saves including three in the overtime period.

The Patriots withstood immediate pressure in overtime as Emily Ellisen picked up a yellow card early in the extra period. The Dragons got the first scoring opportunity but a Katie Lawson free-position shot was saved. Drexel was awarded two more free-position attempts during the possession but came up empty. Mason recovered the ball and successfully cleared when Jamison dodged her way in front of the cage and scored with just 15 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. The Patriots won the draw to start the second overtime period and successfully ran down the clock before Alana Chan scored a goal on an empty net with 30 seconds remaining to ice the game.

The Dragons used a furious four-goal rally at the end of regulation to prolong the game. With 14:05 remaining and Drexel trailing 11-7, Charlotte Wood scored her only goal of the game as she sent a shot in after running from the left side of the cage. Less than a minute later Nicole Musto connected to bring the Dragons to within two goals. The teams battled back-and-forth with neither able to find the net until Katie Blazer converted a free-position shot from directly in front of the cage. With time winding down in the game, George Mason gained possession of the ball in its defensive end but a caused turnover by Amanda Gregg shifted the momentum. Gregg flipped the ball to Wood behind the cage who immediately sent a pass in front to Becca Drylie-Perkins who one-timed a shot into the cage to send the game to overtime.

The Dragons started the game strong with a pair of goals from Lawson to give Drexel an early 2-0 lead. But the Patriots came storming back with a seven-goal run that threatened to put the game out of reach. Drexel scored three of the final four goals of the period, including two from Drylie-Perkins, to send the game to halftime with George Mason leading, 8-5.

Drexel outshot George Mason, 36-31, for the game including a 21-11 edge in the second half. The Patriots won 16 draws to the Dragons' 12, but the visitors won all four overtime draws. Longobucco made 15 saves, including three in overtime, to earn the victory while Lauren LaBella stopped 12 shots.

The Patriots play again on Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m. against Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y.