W&M Defeats George Washington in Women’s Lax

W&M’s Work Records Four Scores

03/07/04 4:05PM

Williamsburg, VA - The College of William and Mary recorded its second-straight win to open the 2004 season by downing George Washington University, 13-9, on Sunday afternoon at Busch Field Turf.

The College’s overall play was as crisp as the sun-splashed afternoon, as the squad overcame an early 3-1 deficit to im-prove its record to 2-0 on the young season. The Colonials record fell to 0-3.

W&M used its athletic lineup to record 33 ground balls (to GW’s 23) and cause 10 turnovers on the contest. The Tribe’s defense seemed only to grow stronger in front of net minder Debby Petracca (Manhasset, NY) as the game played on. Petracca turned away eight saves and allowed just three scores in the second half. Her yeoman work in front of the cage was bolstered by the outstanding team defense played by seniors Aimee Duffy (South Salem, NY) and Becca Hall (Ft. Belvoir, VA) and junior Katie Knarr (Midlothian, VA). Duffy ended the game tied with sophomore midfielder Morgan Lang (West-field, NJ) for the team lead in caused turnovers with two.

Returning first team all-conference senior attacker Lauren Work (Henrietta, NY) and speedy junior midfielder Morgan Watkins (Fort Washington, PA) paced the Tribe attack once again, as they combined for 10 total points on the afternoon. Work notched four goals and an assist, while Watkins handed out a pair of helpers and found the back of the net three times. Another crucial contributor on the attack was tireless senior Kelly McQuade (Doylestown, PA) who scored a goal and came away with a team-best six ground balls on the afternoon.

Senior Nicole Lewis (Bel Air, MD) and lightening quick freshman Kristen Wong (Richmond, VA) both played crucial roles in enabling the College to strike out in the transition attack, as the team was successful on 14 of its 15 clear attempts on the afternoon. Each also added a goal to the Tribe’s efforts, while Wong also hustled up five ground balls.

George Washington came out the gates with all guns blazing and Meghan McDonough’s second of two goals in the first 12 minutes of play spotted the Colonials an early 3-1 lead. The Tribe quickly righted its ship behind the outstanding efforts of Work, who started a string of four-straight W&M goals by handing out an assist to Rutledge with 16:53 remaining in the half. Rutledge quickly returned the favor, assisting Work on the next Tribe goal less than a minute later, knotting the score at 3-3. Work then took matters into her own hands, as she found success two more times, converting a free position shot and recording an unassisted score to give the Tribe a 5-3 lead at the 8:13 mark. The Colonials surged back to tie the score at five, as Katie Kearns and Jamie Lee each recorded unassisted scores. Watkins answered right back with a pair of tallies of her own, the second of which came at the end of a brilliant feed from freshman Emily Vitrano (Cockeysville, MD) with just 1:53 remaining in the half. GW finished the scoring in the half when Lee deposited a free position shot with just five ticks remaining to send the two team’s to the intermission with the Tribe holding a tenuous 7-6 lead.

As was the case in the team’s season opening win over Cal on Friday, the Tribe’s defense was simply suffocating over the final 30 minutes of play, allowing the Colonials just eight second half shots. In contrast, the College’s offense peppered fired off 12 tries at net, converting six of them into scores. Sophomore Colleen Dalon (Moorestown, NJ) and freshman Jamie Fitzgerald (Jenkintown, PA) were responsible for the Tribe’s first two scores of the second half, cushioning the team’s lead to 9-6. Down three, GW pieced together several good scoring opportunities until Laura Hostetler broke through for a goal at 16:36, making it a two-goal game at 9-7. McQuade sucked the momentum out of the Colonial comeback moments later, when she knocked a bouncing rebound in front of the cage into the twine for what turned out to be the decisive score. George Washington trimmed the lead to 10-8 with 12:02 remaining, but the College’s possession attack proved to be too much to overcome, as W&M ran much of the remaining time off the clock in the GW offensive zone, scoring the final game’s final three goals in the process.

The Tribe will return to action this Wednesday, when the squad will travel to take on state-rival Richmond.

William and Mary 13, George Washington 9
George Washington (0-3) 9
William and Mary (2-0, 0-0 CAA) 13

Box Score