Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - Freshman attacker Madalyn Jamison scored the game-winning goal to lift the George Mason women's lacrosse team to an 11-10 upset of No. 9 Johns Hopkins in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at George Mason Stadium. After falling behind by a goal, the Patriots tallied the final two scores of the game to open the season on a winning note.

Mason scored the first three goals of the game and took a 6-3 lead at the half. Seniors Laura King and Megan Bartlett both scored two goals in the first 30 minutes of play to pace the Patriots' attack.

In the second half, George Mason had to withstand a furious comeback attempt by Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays tied the score at nine on freshman Brianna Cronin's second goal of the game and took their first lead on sophomore Sam Schrum's fourth goal of the contest with 7:50 remaining.

Trailing 10-9, the Patriots answered when junior attacker Brittany Berger scored her second goal of the game with 5:10 remaining. After a couple minutes elapsed, Jamison fired a shot past Johns Hopkins' junior goalkeeper Amelia Harris to give Mason the lead at 11-10 with 2:39 left in the game.

The Blue Jays controlled the ensuing draw but turned the ball over with 1:40 to go. Mason cleared the ball but was unable to run out the clock, turning it over with 36 seconds left in the game. However, senior Lauren Schwarzmann threw the ball out of bounds with 14 seconds to go to give Mason possession of the ball. King passed the ball to sophomore goalkeeper Sara Longobucco, who cradled the ball in her stick as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The Patriot defense caused 14 turnovers in the game. Junior Maggie Bridges led the team with four. Longobucco faced 31 shots, making 12 saves, including eight in the second half.

George Mason plays again on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. against No. 10 Georgetown in Washington, D.C.