NEWARK, Del. - Emily Ellisen tied her season-high of four
goals for the fourth time, but the senior's offensive effort was not enough as
George Mason dropped a 13-8 Colonial Athletic Association decision at Delaware
Sunday afternoon to close out regular season action.
Ellisen finished the game for Mason (3-13, 1-6 CAA) with
four goals, two draw controls, one ground ball and one caused turnover. Allie
Hilderbrandt contributed two goals and an assist, while Caitlin Formato and
Mackenzie Jones each added a goal for the Patriots. Mary Schwartz led with
three caused turnovers and three ground balls to go along with an assist.
Brittany Pastrana played the majority of time in cage, making six saves. Katie
Teague played just over five minutes in cage and allowed one goal.
Delaware (5-12, 3-4 CAA) was led in scoring by Chelsea Fay
and Caitlin McCartney each with four goals, while five additional Blue Hens
contributed a goal for the home squad. Allison Hahn recorded three assists and
one goal. Goalkeeper Alex Zaugra played the full 60 minutes in cage, making
seven stops and recording a team-high five ground balls.
The conference foes opened the game trading goals as
Hilderbrandt scored her 19th goal of the season at 21:49 to tie the
game at 1-1 before the Blue Hens rattled off three unanswered goals for a 4-1
lead at 9:40. Ellisen scored twice over the next three minutes as Formato found
the back of the net, slicing the score to 5-4 with 1:46 remaining in the first
half.
Delaware opened a 4-0 run that bridged halftime and the
first 10 minutes of the second half to
take a 9-4 advantage with 20:23 left to play. Jones made it 9-5 with an
unassisted shot before Ellisen's third goal of the contest cut the score to 9-6
with 11:35 to play. Abbie Hartman sparked a 3-0 spurt for the Blue Hens as the
home squad opened a 12-6 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Ellisen and
Hilderbrandt capped the scoring for Mason before Delaware's McCartney scored
the final goal of the game with 26 seconds on the clock for the final 13-8
score.
George Mason outshot Delaware (27-23), but the
Blue Hens won the edge in ground balls (20-16), draw controls (14-9) and free
position shots (2-0).
