George Mason University Athletics

Lacrosse Jumps Into A-10 Play With Two Road Games

George Mason Athletics Women's Lacrosse 3/31/2016 12:50:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – For the George Mason women's lacrosse team, their quest to make a return trip to the Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship begins this weekend.

With the first weekend of April comes the start of A-10 conference play as the Patriots hit the road for two games. Mason will play at George Washington at 4 p.m. on Friday in Washington D.C. The Patriots will close the weekend at Richmond at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Richmond, Va.

Though the A-10 Women's Lacrosse Championship is more than a month away, Mason is focused on achieving its goals of making it back to the league tournament, which, this year, has expanded from four to six teams. The Patriots made the tournament for the first time in program history last year, reaching as the No. 4 seed before falling to seven-time defending champ Massachusetts in the opening round.

“Last year, we kind of made some noise, finishing fourth,” senior captain Erin Anderson said. “We're always looking to improve, so this year our goal is we don't want to be just making the cut for conference. We really want to make some noise. Our plan is to play UMass in the championship on that Sunday.”

The Patriots (5-2), who were picked to finish fourth in this year's A-10 preseason coaches poll, are off to a strong start. They've won three straight, coming off a dominant 15-4 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday to close out the non-conference schedule. They've received balance scoring so far with four players with 10 goals or more – Jacquelyn Spalding (18 goals), Chachi Kelehan (17), Alexa McGovern (15) and Brooke Lorber (11 goals and 11 assists).

This will be the 15 meeting against Revolutionary Rival George Washington, with the Patriots owning an 11-3 advantage. The Colonials (2-6) haven't played since a 10-7 loss to Old Dominion on March 19. Jocelyn Donohue leads GW with 10 goals.

The Patriots are 6-5 all-time against Richmond, including an 8-5 victory last April. The Spiders (4-3), who have lost two straight, are led by Mia Castagnero. The freshman is tied for the conference lead in goals with 23. She leads the A-10 with 3.29 goals a game.

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