No. 9 Women's Lacrosse Rolls in CAA Opener

By Connect Mason Reporter Will Scullion

The ninth-ranked George Mason University women’s lacrosse team defeated Colonial Athletic Association rival Old Dominion University 17-7 Friday night at George Mason Stadium.

Mason (8-1, 1-0 CAA) dominated ODU (4-2, 0-1 CAA) in the first half, jumping out to an 11-1 lead.

For Mason head coach Amy Bokker the way her team played came as no surprise.

“In CAA play you never know what to expect,” Bokker said. “Everyone rises to the occasion when competing to make it into the CAA tournament. I certainly expected a tough game but I think our players really rose up to the occasion and I’m proud of that.”

Junior midfielder Alana Chan led the offensive effort for the Patriots with four goals. Senior attacker Laura King, senior midfielder Megan Bartlett and sophomore attacker Megan Udovich all had two goals each for Mason.

Chan, a transfer from Canisius College and former MAAC defender of the year, does not take all of the credit for her play.

“I was working hard in practice,” Chan said. “But I can’t score without my teammates getting me the ball. That was our mindset, my team just getting me the ball and then me just finishing it off.”

King and freshman midfielder Madalyn Jamison led the Patriots in assists with two a piece.

Sophomore goalkeeper Sara Longobucco played the majority of the game in goal for the Patriots, recording nine saves.

In the second half ODU did a better job of hanging with the Patriots, the score for the half was 6-6, but the damage had already been done.

For Bokker, the second half was simply a chance to try out some new things with her team.

“We were trying a couple different defenses and running through some of our offences,” Bokker said. “We just wanted to really work on continuing to move the ball and take what they were giving us for shot opportunities.”

Midfielder Ashley Kellogg and Katherine Bruno led Old Dominion with two goals apiece.

Old Dominion’s weak offensive effort led to frustration from several of the ODU players. Midway through the second half there were multiple yellow cards handed out to players on both sides for rough play.

“Old Dominion is going to fight until the end of the game,” Bokker said. “As they were being aggressive with us, then we in turn were being aggressive with them. It was just everybody playing tough and wanting to leave it all on the field.”

Goalkeeper Sara Larson played the majority of the game in goal for Old Dominion. She recorded seven saves.

As a team the Patriots out shot the Monarchs 40-18.

The next game for the Patriots is on April 6 against William and Mary in Williamsburg. William and Mary is currently on a three-game winning streak, a streak which includes wins against No. 10 Stanford and No. 20 JMU.