FAIRFAX, Va. – The ranking in front of Massachusetts didn't intimidate the George Mason women's lacrosse team.
The Patriots never backed down on Friday night. Even after surrendering a first-half lead, they battled and threatened to end the seven-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference's champ lengthy conference winning streak.
Despite a second-half rally, however, Mason's comeback attempt fell short in a 13-9 loss to No. 19 UMass at George Mason Stadium. The Minutewomen won their 39th straight A-10 game, setting the record for longest conference winning streak in NCAA history.
The Patriots made UMass (10-1, 3-0 A-10) work for the record-breaking win. After losing its first three meetings against UMass – all coming in the last two years – by a combined 39 goals, Mason scored the first two goals on Friday. The Patriots maintained a one-goal lead and didn't trail until late in the first half when UMass went on a scoring flurry. Even after the Minutewomen grabbed a five-goal second-half lead, Mason battled back to trim the deficit to two.
“I have to be (proud) because we've never been this competitive with UMass so it's nice to see we've really established ourselves at the top of the A-10,” head coach Jessy Morgan said. “We were in reach today so that's a good thing. I think it proves to the girls we can pretty much hang with anybody. They're a top 20 team so I think it gave us a lot of confidence.”
Freshman Chachi Kelehan scored four goals and dished out an assist and sophomore Hannah Warpinski added three goals and an assist to lead the Patriots (7-3, 2-1).
Kelehan and Jacquelyn Spalding scored the game's first two goals to put Mason in front 2-0 less than six minutes in. UMass quickly responded quickly, scoring two goals in less than 30 seconds to tie the game. Kelehan then scored twice put the Patriots back in front, the second time giving Mason a 4-3 lead with 9:42 left.
Though the Mason defense and freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Benedetto stood tall for most of the game, a spurt of UMass goals right before halftime turned out to be the difference. Starting with Hannah Burnett's goal with 3:51 left in the first half, the Minutewomen scored five goals in less than three minutes, benefitting off winning draw controls. Erika Eipp's goal with 1:12 left gave UMass an 8-4 lead going into halftime.
UMass pushed the lead to 11-6 with 15:01 left in the game. Mason didn't fold. Kelehan scored a minute later off an assist from Lydia Montanino. Fifty-nine seconds later, Kelehan then fed Warpinski for a goal. With 11:34 left, Warpinski scored again, this time on a pass from Spalding, to cut the lead to 11-9.
The Patriots had a few cracks at pulling within one, but one shot bounced off the post and another clanged off the crossbar. UMass regained possession, killed clock and scored a huge insurance goal with 4:36 left. The Minutewomen added another with 2:03 remaining to seal the victory.
Besides the scoring production from Kelehan and Warpinski, Jordan Sdanowich and Spalding also scored for the Patriots, who had won five straight. Alexa McGovern, Brooke Lorber, Spalding and Montanino also added assists.
Benedetto was superb in goal again, making nine saves while facing 31 shots. In her last four games – all A-10 contests – she has 38 saves.
The Patriots will look to bounce back at 12 p.m. on Sunday when they host Davidson at George Mason Stadium.
