AMHERST, Mass. – The George Mason women's lacrosse team nearly knocked off the champ.

The Patriots led for most of the game but couldn't hold off a second-half rally by Massachusetts in an 18-17 loss on Sunday at Garber Field. Mason scored with 1:56 left to pull within one but the Minutewomen won the ensuing draw control. UMass ran out the clock for its 53rd straight Atlantic 10 Conference victory, extending its NCAA record conference-winning streak.

Freshman Melissa Semkiw made a career-high 19 saves and senior captains Brooke Lorber and Alexa McGovern each notched six-point games with four goals and two assists apiece.

But UMass (13-3, 8-0 A-10) battled back from a five-goal deficit in the first half to take an 18-15 lead with 3:42 remaining. The Patriots (10-6, 6-2) didn't quit, though, scoring twice in 23 seconds.

McGovern netted a free-position attempt with 2:19 left. After junior Hannah Warpinski secured a draw control, freshman Hailey Johnson ripped a shot past Minutewomen goalkeeper Aileen Kelly to cut the lead to 18-17 with 1:56 left.

UMass' Hannah Murphy came up with her 15th and biggest draw control of the game on the ensuing draw. The shot clock forced the Minutewomen to attempt a shot but a foul and yellow card was called on the Patriots during the shot. That allowed UMass to run out the last 34 seconds and seal at least a share of its seventh straight A-10 regular-season title.

Mason scored the first five goals of the game and withstood an early first-half rally by UMass to take a 9-6 lead into halftime. The Patriots pushed the lead to 13-9 with 19:45 remaining on a goal by Lorber. But that's when the Minutewomen began to storm back. They scored five straight goals to take their first lead of the game with 12:56 left. McGovern and Johnson responded with goals 44 seconds apart to jump back in front, 15-14.

But the lead was short-lived. UMass scored 13 seconds later for the first of four straight goals. It was enough to fend off the Patriots, who lost their second straight.

Johnson finished with three goals and an assist. Sophomore Chachi Kelehan also added three goals and senior Melissa Lobaccaro had two. Semkiw made 19 saves on 50 shots faced for a .514 save percentage in one of the best performances of her young career. The Patriots converted 18 of their 31 shots and forced the Minutewomen to pull starting goalkeeper Lauren Hiller in the second half.

Led by Murphy, the Minutewomen won the draw control 22-15. The Patriots also committed 19 turnovers, compared to just 10 by UMass.

Mason closes out the regular season against Davidson at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Davidson, N.C.