Women's Lacrosse | 2/20/2018 8:40:00 PM
FAIRFAX, Va. – After more than nine months of waiting, the George Mason women's lacrosse team will be back in action.
The Patriots open the season against Monmouth at 3 p.m. on Wednesday in West Long Branch, N.J. Mason, which has won 10 games or more each of the last three years, heads into the season with high hopes after tying for second in the Atlantic 10 Conference the last two seasons.
"We couldn't be more excited," said head coach
Jessy Morgan, who begins her fourth season at Mason. "We're excited to start incorporating some of these freshmen and we're excited for the seniors to get a crack at a really great season. So we can't wait to play."
The Patriots return nine starters and 16 letterwinners from a year ago. Senior
Hannah Warpinski, an Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection last year, returns after a record-breaking season. She set the school record for draw controls (95) and led the team in ground balls (51), and caused turnovers (36) in addition to scoring 10 goals and dishing out 18 assists.
Junior
Chachi Kelehan leads the attack as the team's top returning scorer after she netted 41 goals, dished out 15 assists and collected 56 points. Senior
Kira Greer, a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team selection, anchors the defense as she ranked second on the team in ground balls (39).
Goalkeeper
Melissa Semkiw (106 saves) and attack
Hailey Johnson (25 goals) look to build off promising freshman campaigns as both were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.
The Patriots welcome 11 freshmen. Morgan says she has encouraged by the offseason efforts of her newcomers, including freshmen midfielder
Erin Donoghue and defender
Natalya Moody. Mason also adds a graduate transfer from Northwestern – attacker
Corinne Wessels. The graduate student spent the last three seasons with the Wildcats but hails from Manassas, Va., earning Under Armour All-American honors while at Osbourn Park High School.
The Patriots went 11-7 last year and tied for second in the A-10 with a 7-2 mark but fell in the first round of the conference tournament. Mason was picked to tie for third in the A-10 preseason coaches poll this year.
Monmouth and Mason have met twice before, with the Patriots winning both meetings. But the teams haven't met since 1996. The Hawks (0-3) have lost all three matches this year, falling to Army, Temple and Rutgers – all at home.
