George Washington LACROSSE TOPS LA SALLE, 16-13

Recap, photo courtesy of George Washington

WASHINGTON – In its return to the GW Lacrosse Field on the Mount Vernon Campus, the George Washington lacrosse team topped the La Salle Explorers, 16-13, on Friday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Explorers came out hot in the first half, making their first strike at the 29:12 mark before adding two more to lead by three just seven minutes into the game. The Colonials (9-2, 2-1 A-10) battled back with a pair of their own from Camaryn Kerns and Morgan McDonnell to bring the game within one. La Salle (4-7, 0-3 A-10) responded with back-to-back goals, but GW continued to push on the attack and tied the game at five with 11 minutes to play in the half. The Explorers reestablished their lead with another pair of goals, but the Colonials wouldn’t let up and matched their conference opponent with two of their own from the freshman duo of Abby Carlin and Ioanna Mantzouratos. La Salle scored once more, but GW found the back of the net two more times to close the half with a narrow 9-8 lead.

The Colonials were the first to register a tally after the break, with Mantzouratos scoring her third goal of the game from the free position. One minute later, senior co-captain Jocelyn Donohue found the back of the net for GW once again off of a feed from Mantzouratos. The teams continued to trade goals, before the Colonials began to pull away with four straight tallies to lead 16-11 with 1:23 to go. The Explorers scored twice more, but it wasn’t enough as GW took the 16-13 victory.

NOTEWORTHY:
Mantzouratos led the team with a game- and career-high four goals while adding a pair of assists, one ground ball, and one caused turnover.
Six other Colonials found the back of the net in today’s matchup. The senior pair of Kerns and Donohue each completed a hat trick, sophomores Katie Quinn and Caroline Kiernan scored a pair of goals, and McDonnell and Carlin had one apiece.
The Colonials held a lead at halftime for the ninth time this season.
Freshman keeper Jenna Oler made a season-high matching 17 saves against the Explorers.
GW held an edge in shots (35-34) and ground balls (9-5) while La Salle had a 17-14 advantage off the draw.
LOOK AHEAD: The Colonials will head down to Richmond on Sunday to face the Spiders for a 1 p.m. bout at Robins Stadium.