FAIRFAX, Va. – Allie Hilderbrandt scored a career-high six goals on Senior Day, but it was not enough as the George Mason lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 16-12 decision to William and Mary Sunday afternoon.
Hilderbrandt scored four goals in the first half to match her career-high and added a pair in the second half to set a career-high and lead Mason offensively. Rachel Obregon scored twice for the Patriots who also saw scoring from Katie Mascolo, Kirstin Russell, Mackenzie Jones and Allison Pinard. Obregon finished the game with three assists as Laura Lesky and Mascolo also assisted on a goal apiece. Kyrstin Mackrides led the Tribe with five goals.
Mason outshot W&M (37-30) and won the edge in draw controls (16-13) as ground balls stood even at 13-13. Brittany Pastrana played the full game in cage and made seven saves, while Colleen Nofi picked up the win making 11 stops in the full 60 minutes.
William & Mary opened the scoring at the 28:42 mark, but Mason answered every offensive output from the Tribe as the game stood tied at 5-5 with 3:28 left in the first. Hilderbrandt put Mason on the scoreboard with her 32nd goal of the season at 25:31 as the teams traded goals back-and-forth. Hilderbrandt scored Mason's first four goals as Russell converted a free position shot at 3:28 to make the score even again at 5-5. The Tribe's Amanda Johnson put the visiting squad up by one at intermission, 6-5, with a goal with two seconds left in the period.
The Tribe carried over the momentum taking a 9-5 advantage with three unanswered goals to open the second half before Obregon snapped the streak at 23:26. Mackrides gave the goal back at 21:28, but the Patriots would use goals from Hilderbrandt and Jones to cut the score to 10-8 with 18:45 left to play.
Zoe Boger put W&M back up by three, but the advantage would soon be sliced to one as Pinard and Mascolo combined to cut the lead to 11-10 with just under 14 minutes remaining. That would be the closest Mason would come, however, as W&M answered back with four goals to push its lead back out to 15-10.
Mason scored two of the final three goals to account for the final 16-12 score. With the final regular season game completed, Mason finished the season at 5-11 overall and 0-7 in Colonial Athletic Association play. W&M improved to 5-11, 2-5.
