Box Score (PDF)
EMMITSBURG, Md. – The George Mason University women's lacrosse team put 23 of its 26 shots on goal and never surrendered the lead during a complete 14-10 victory over Mt. St. Mary's Wednesday afternoon at Waldron Family Stadium.
Mason (3-1) built a 6-1 lead in the first half and the Mount could not move any closer than three for the remainder of the contest.
The solid performance earned Mason a nice road win over a previously unbeaten Mt. St. Mary's squad (3-0) which posted a 16-3 record and 7-0 NEC mark last season.
"The cohesiveness of our team today was a difference maker," head coach Jessy Morgan said. "It was a hard-fought game where we got to go deep into our bench. The Mount is a well coached team and I personally love tight games that force us all to be on the same page mentally. I was particularly impressed with how much Natalya Moody has stepped up defensively."
Sophomore Deanna Balsama led the Patriots offensively with a season-high five goals. She also tallied a game-high seven draw controls to go along with two caused turnovers in a strong all-around effort.
Senior Hailey Johnson also notched four points (2g, 2a) in addition to a pair of ground balls, while sophomore Abby Folker registered a hat trick with three goals.
Senior Morgan Rynn reached three points (1g, 2a) for the second-straight game and put home her only free position attempt.
For the fourth time in as many games this season, Mason won the draw battle (14-12) and also put together a perfect 14-for-14 on clear attempts for the day.
Unassisted goals by Folker and Johnson jumped Mason out to a 2-0 lead. After a Mountaineers' score, the Patriots rattled off four-straight goals – including three from Balsama – to go up 6-1 at the 13:43 mark of the first half. The Mount cut it to four (6-2), but Mason answered with a 3-0 spurt – which featured goals from Folker, Erin Donoghue and Morgan Rynn – to make it 9-2. Mt. St. Mary's scored the final two goals of the half to make it a five-goal game (9-4) at the break.
The Mount scored three of the first four goals of the second half to get back within three (10-7) at the 18:28 mark. At that point, three unanswered goals from Johnson, Folker and Donoghue pushed the advantage back to six (13-7) with 14:28 left.
Mt. St. Mary's again put together a 3-0 spurt to get the deficit back to three (13-10) with just 6:49 to go, but Balsama found the back of the net off a good feed from Johnson with just one minute left to effectively clinch the win for the Green & Gold.
Mason now travels to Charlottesville, Va. to take on #7 Virginia on Mar. 4. The first draw is scheduled for 6 p.m.
