FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason lacrosse team opened its homestand picking up its first win of the season, defeating Bucknell 12-8 Friday night at George Mason Stadium. Bucknell outscored the Patriots in the second half, but a strong performance in the first half sent Mason past the visiting squad under snowy conditions. Allie Hilderbrandt, Rachel Obregon and Caitlin Formato all recorded hat tricks for the Patriots.

Mason led 10-3 at the halftime break thanks to a first-half hat trick from Obregon as Kirstin Russell, Formato and Hilderbrandt each added a pair of goals for the Patriots. Laura Lesky opened the scoring with an unassisted shot at the 27:38 mark before Bucknell evened the score for the final time in the contest as Emily Kookogey converted a free position attempt at 26:30.

Using a 5-0 run, Mason took a comfortable 6-1 lead with 15:40 left to play in the first half. Madison Hurwitz snapped the Patriots' run, but two unanswered from the home squad thereafter setup an 8-2 advantage before the Bison scored their final goal of the half at 11:04.

Strong defense from the Patriots caused Bucknell to go cold from the field over the next 20 minutes as Mason scored four unanswered goals spanning both halves for a 12-3 lead with 23:28 left in the second half. The Bison would then hold the Patriots scoreless the remainder of the game and cut the score to the final 12-8 decision with five unanswered goals.

For the game, Bucknell narrowly outshot Mason 25-23 and won the edge in draw controls, 12-10, but the Patriots held the advantage in ground balls (20-15). Brittany Pastrana played 43:51 in cage and picked up the win recording seven saves. Caroline Brouse played the final 16:09 of the contest and recorded four saves.

Hilderbrandt led Mason with four points on three goals and an assist, while also taking a team-high six shots. Erin Anderson recorded a team-best three caused turnovers, while Hilderbrandt and Formato each won three draw controls.

For Bucknell, Hurwitz recorded three points on two goals and an assist as Katelyn Miller recorded three ground balls and four caused turnovers. Caroline O'Neill played the full game in cage, drawing the loss and picking up four saves.