The AU women’s lacrosse team stormed past George Mason University 15-3 to rack up its second consecutive win thanks to strong passing, persistence and performances from the offense on March 26, at Jacobs Field.
“[Passing] is something that we have been working on all season, just being consistent, and today we clicked.,” head coach Emma Wallace said. “We were more composed and we held on to the ball. We clicked on offense and on the defensive end with our clearing game.”
Senior attacker Alex Lugovina set a fast pace early on, earning the first score of the game with a wraparound goal from behind the net within the first three minutes of play. Just over a minute later, she caught a sharp pass from junior attacker Jordan Harrington and launched another shot past George Mason goalkeeper Caroline Brouse.
Senior midfielder Emily Maher added a third goal to the team’s total when she charged through the Mason defense to whip the ball into the net with 25:26 to play in the first half.
Efficient passing allowed the Eagles (4-7, 0-3 PL) to control the flow of offense throughout the first half, as they limited the Patriots (6-3, 0-0 A10) to one goal and five shots in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Patriots’ offense struggled to match the sharp-shooting Eagles. AU’s skillful ball handling contributed to their continued success throughout the game.
With goals from sophomore midfielder Olivia Mangan, sophomore attacker Jessica Wojciechowski and freshman midfielder Madison Hoon, AU quickly surged to a 10-1 lead going into halftime.
The team’s confident and collected play held off the rejuvenated Patriots in the second half of the game, and the Eagles continued to rack up goals. Freshman attacker Becky Meyers earned her first season goal with 16:30 to play in the game, and Lugovina secured AU’s final goal in the last 10 minutes to help the team finish the game with a wide margin of victory.
“Coming into this game, we really wanted to focus on playing two complete halves as opposed to going out really strong in one and holding on for the win in the second,” Wallace said. “So today was a really complete game, a really strong win for us to go into Patriot League play on Saturday.”
While Mangan and Lugovina led the team in goals with four each, freshman goalkeeper Jackie Ferri’s dominant play in the net was crucial to the team’s success.
“I think it was a really good team effort today,” Mangan said. “Everyone really contributed, defense came up on ground balls and everyone on attack was moving, getting goals and assists, so it was a good team effort. Jackie played great in goal.”
Ferri, who also started in the win against Old Dominion, recorded three critical saves for the Eagles.
The Eagles look to continue their dominant play on March 29 when they take on Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.
