Lacrosse won their second consecutive game, collecting a win against St. Bonaventure on Sunday afternoon.
The Colonials (4-8, 2-2 A-10) emerged with a 13-10 victory over the Bonnies (1-9, 0-4 A-10) ushered by sophomore attacker Katie Lederman and senior midfielder Tori Hampton, who each had a hat trick. GW rode a nine-goal first half to stymie a St. Bonaventure comeback.
Lederman nabbed her first career hat trick, and Hampton’s trio of assists earned her a career high six points on the afternoon. On the Bonnies’ side of the pitch, freshman attacker Fiona McGovern scored six goals to lead the visiting offense.
GW started off strong offensively, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the game to control the pace of play. Junior attacker Katelyn Walker opened the scoring just more than a minute into the game on a free-position shot, and Lederman got on the board courtesy of an assist from Hampton.
With a little less than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, senior attacker Sophia Watkinson put GW up 3–0 off a pass by freshman midfielder Emily Mowbray from behind the net. Walker added another goal with three minutes left in the quarter with an underhanded finish as the shot clock approached zero.
The Bonnies finally got on the board with a minute remaining in the opening quarter thanks to a McGovern drive to the net and finish to cut the GW lead to 4–1 at the end of the first quarter.
The first tally of the second quarter came from Hampton, who received a pass on the halfway line and took it all the way to goal, slotting it past junior goalkeeper Ashley Herrick. But McGovern quickly responded with a goal of her own off a feed from sophomore attacker Abby Hiltz.
GW finished the half with four unanswered goals and led 9-2 at the break. With just under six minutes remaining in the first half, the Colonials extended their lead behind two goals from senior midfielder Kendall Lambert.
Hampton assisted the first score while the second score came off a pass from sophomore midfielder Phoebe Mullarkey. Senior midfielder Alana Greene also got onto the scoresheet, with another assist from Hampton before sophomore midfielder Bailey Aaron scored on a free-position shot to close the half.
The Bonnies found some momentum at the start of the second half, scoring two goals to bring the deficit to 9–4 with 13 minutes left in the third quarter. McGovern got her hat trick on a wrap-around finish before junior midfielder Nora Anderson got a goal of her own 54 seconds later.
Lederman slowed some of the Bonnies momentum with an underhanded finish, but Anderson responded a minute later for St. Bonaventure to bring the GW lead back to five goals. St. Bonaventure continued their strong second half with McGovern converting a free-position shot before Hiltz finished off a chance for the Bonnies to make the score 10-7 in favor of the Colonials.
Lederman once again replied with a goal to slow the Bonnies’ roll, this time giving GW a four-goal advantage heading into the final quarter of play.
The Bonnies came into the fourth quarter with a 3-0 run to open the stanza. Senior attacker Madison Mundenar brought the deficit back to three, converting a rebound amid a sea of bodies with 13 minutes left before McGovern scored two more goals to trim the Colonials advantage to just 11-10.
Hampton stepped up for GW, scoring two consecutive goals to put the Colonials up 13-10, the final scores of the afternoon.
GW is currently tied for fifth place in the Atlantic 10 as the team approaches the halfway point of conference play. The top four teams make the conference tournament, and the Colonials will look to make their first conference tournament since 2009, when they fell 12-9 to Massachusetts in the first round.
Though Head Coach Jennifer Ulehla has been absent from the bench in recent games, assistant coaches Leighann Stauffer, Hayley Sabol and Kelly Layton have led the team in recent games.
The Colonials will play their next three games on the road, starting with a trip to Massachusetts to take on the reigning A-10 champion Minutewomen, who are ranked 18th in the country in both the Inside Lacrosse and IWLCA Coaches Poll.
The Colonials are set to take on Massachusetts for a 1:30 p.m. tipoff Friday.
