WASHINGTON, D.C. - Allie Hilderbrandt tied her career-high scoring four goals, but it was not enough as the George Mason lacrosse team fell 19-17 at American Wednesday afternoon at Jacobs Field. Emily Ellisen and Mary Schwartz each added three goals in the final non-conference contest of the season for the Patriots.

Seven different Patriots scored for Mason (2-7) as Ellisen finished the game with two assists, three draw controls and one caused turnover. Schwartz capped the game with three goals, two ground balls and one assist, while Joy Oberlin recorded a team-high three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Brittany Pastrana played the full game in cage and made eight saves, five in the first half.

For American (5-4), Emily Burton paced the offense with six goals as Emily Maher and Lauren Schoenberger each added three goals. Samantha Marshall recorded three assists, while Kimberly Collins recorded a team-best three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Kaska Komosinski picked up the win in cage and recorded six saves.  

Hilderbrandt gave Mason the early lead, but it was short-lived as American used four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead with 20:18 to play. The Patriots used strong defense over the next eight minutes to put together a 4-1 run with goals from Schwartz, Katie Mascolo and Rachel Obregon before Caitlin Formato scored unassisted from the left of the crease, knotting the score at 5-5 with 11:22 left. The Eagles answered with a pair of goals, but Hilderbrandt scored on an unassisted drive for a 7-6 American lead with 5:17 to play. American's Burton closed the half with three consecutive goals for a 10-6 American lead at halftime.

Trailing 11-7 at 26:54, HIlderbrandt completed a hat trick scoring a pair of goals for an 11-9 score before Burton scored her sixth goal of the contest. The Patriots continued their strong start to the second half using three unanswered goals from Schwartz, Mascolo and an unassisted shot from Ellisen at the top of the crease to tie the score at 12-12 with 16:52 remaining.

 The Eagles would regain a three goal lead at 16-13, but Mason would cut the score to 17-16 off a Mackenzie Jones goal with 7:31 on the clock. Alex Lugovina gave American an 18-16 lead before Obregon made it 18-17 converting a free position shot with 1:12 remaining. Mason won the following draw control, but a quick turnover returned possession to the home squad as Maher accounted for the final score as time expired.

American won the edge in shots (32-29), ground balls (9-8) and converted 4-of-5 free position shots to Mason's 2-of-3 attempts. Both teams finished with 18 draw controls.