FARMVILLE, Va. - The George Mason lacrosse team held the lead at halftime, but a furious Longwood team outscored the Patriots in the second half to capture a 12-9 win Wednesday afternoon. Caitlin McGinn, Allie Hilderbrandt and Kirstin Russell all tallied two goals apiece for the Patriots in their season-opener.

In addition to the three Patriots that scored two goals each, Katie Mascolo, Laura Lesky and Caitlin Formato all added a tally to the board for the visiting squad. Caroline Brouse, earning her first collegiate career start in cage, led Mason with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Rachel Obregon recorded Mason's only assist coming on Mascolo's tally. Mascolo finished the game with a team-best six shots, four on goal.

Mason opened the first half taking a 3-0 lead on tallies from McGinn, Mascolo and Hilderbrandt within the first two and a half minutes before the Lancers got on the scoreboard using a 4-0 run as Mary Barondess handed Longwood its first lead converting a free position shot with 9:31 left to play in the first half.

Hilderbrandt tied the score at 4-all as Russell and Lesky added another two goals unanswered for Mason for a 6-4 lead in favor of the Patriots, but Longwood cut the score to a one-goal differential at the halftime break with Barondess' second goal of the period for a 6-5 halftime score.

Longwood came out of intermission knotting the score at 6-6, before Mason regained the lead on a McGinn conversion. Within the next two minutes, Longwood scored two goals for an 8-7 advantage before Formato registered Mason's eighth goal of the contest to put the game in a standstill at 8-all with just under 10 minutes left in the contest.

Longwood closed the game on a 4-1 run to capture the win, 12-9. For the game, Longwood held the advantage in shots (29-23), ground balls (20-11) and draw controls (13-10). Brouse and Brittany Pastrana split time in cage, combining for 10 saves, while Longwood's Christian Acker played the full 60 minutes, recording eight saves.