Women's Lacrosse Going National

By Broadside Sports Contributor Will Scullion

The George Mason University women’s lacrosse team is now nationally ranked, after upsetting Johns Hopkins, 11-10, in the season opener on Feb. 23.

Mason is ranked 17 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association poll after their win over the ninth ranked Blue Jays. They are also ranked 20 in the latest Inside Lacrosse media poll.

The Blue Jays are the second highest ranked team beaten by the Patriots during the tenure of head coach Amy Bokker, who is in her 11 season.

“It was the first true test of what we are capable of,” Bokker said.

On the field, the Patriots were led by senior midfielder Megan Bartlett, who scored three goals. Attackers Laura King, Brittany Berger and Madalyn Jamison had two goals a piece, as well as midfielder Chelsea Gamble. King also had two assists.

Jamison, a freshman, scored the winning goal for the Patriots. She was named CAA Rookie of the Week.

Attacker Sam Schrum led the scoring for Johns Hopkins. Schrum had four goals.

While the Patriots did field a strong offense, it was superior goalkeeping that kept Mason ahead of the Blue Jays.

Johns Hopkins had 31 shots on goal, 10 more than the Patriots. Of the 31 shots by the Blue Jays, 12 were blocked by sophomore goalkeeper Sara Longobucco. Comparatively, the two goalkeepers for Hopkins were only able to block three of Mason’s 21 shots.

Mason also outplayed Johns Hopkins on defense. Defender Maggie Bridges caused four of Mason’s 14 turnovers. As a team, Johns Hopkins only caused nine turnovers.

The game was played in front of 168 people, the majority of whom were Johns Hopkins fans. The low attendance can be attributed to the fact that the temperature during the game never reached above 40 degrees. There was also light rain intermittently throughout the game.

Despite the rough conditions, Coach Bokker remained in good spirits as she paced the sidelines.

“This is a great place to be in right now,” Bokker said. “This gives us a lot of confidence going into our next couple of games.”

This was the first game, as a Patriot, for junior midfielder Alana Chan. Chan transferred from Canisius College in New York, where she was MAAC Defender of the Year. Chan forced one turnover in the game.

The Patriots played again on Feb. 27, against the new IWLCA no. 9, Georgetown. The Patriots fell to the Hoyas 14-7. The loss came despite a hat trick by senior attacker King.

March 1 the Patriots went up against Virginia Tech at home with a dominating 11-5 win. Sophomore Megan Udovich had a career-high five goals.

The Patriots open their CAA season on April 4 against Old Dominion University. The Patriots were ranked fifth in the preseason CAA coaches’ poll.