George Mason Holds off Tribe

Watkins, Vitrano Score a Pair for No. 20 W&M

04/03/05 6:30PM

Fairfax, VA - George Mason freshman attacker Christina Frank came off the bench and scored a game-high four goals and senior All-American goalkeeper Meg Dentler recorded 15 saves to lead the Patriots to a 12-7 victory over 20th-ranked William and Mary Sunday afternoon in a Colonial Athletic Association women’s lacrosse contest at George Mason Stadium.

The Patriots, who led the entire way after Frank scored the game’s first goal at the 26:38 mark of the opening period, took advantage of several untimely W&M turnovers and put the clamps down on the Tribe attack in the second half, improving to 2-0 in CAA play and 3-6 overall. The College dropped its fifth consecutive decision on the road and fell to 1-1 in league play and 4-6 overall.

Mason took a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game when senior Tracey Waterson followed Frank’s opening goal with a tally just 1:01 later on an assist from Frank. W&M finally broke through at the 19:28 mark of the first half when senior preseason All-American Morgan Watkins (Fort Washington, PA) put a slick pass right on the stick of junior attacker La Nolan (Ruxton, MD), who tucked a quick shot just under the crossbar from the top of the crease to trim the margin to 2-1. Unfortunately, the one-goal deficit would be as close as the Tribe would get the rest of the way, as Mason rattled off three-straight scores to take a 5-1 lead.

Mason junior Sarah Bryant scored one of her three goals less than a minute after Nolan’s tally, before Frank netted her second success with 17:36 remaining, giving the Patriots a 4-1 advantage. Patriots’ senior Kristy Manus pushed the Mason lead to 5-1 with a goal at the 16:34 mark.

After a called timeout, W&M settled down and clawed its way back into the game, as sophomore midfielder Emily Vitrano (Cockeysville, MD) took a nifty feed from junior All-American candidate Colleen Dalon (Moorestown, NJ) and fired a shot into the back of the cage with 14:27 remaining in the first to pull the Tribe within 5-2. Less than a minute later, Vitrano notched an unassisted score to cut the Patriots’ lead to 5-3.

Mason, however, took advantage of two costly Tribe turnovers on clearing attempts to answer Vitrano’s two scores and stake a 7-3 lead on back-to-back goals by Frank. Trailing by four once again, Watkins found the net on a free-position attempt with 3:55 left before the half, and junior all-conference midfielder Morgan Lang (Westfield, NJ) gave the Tribe a little more momentum just over a minute later with a tally on an assist from Watkins with 2:51 remaining to pull W&M within 7-5. But two Mason goals in the final minute dashed the Tribe’s spirits, as Brandi Evans scored with 49 seconds remaining and Alex Velesz tallied a goal with one second left on the clock for a 9-5 halftime lead.

Hoping to bounce back in the second half, the Tribe controlled the opening draw and went to work in its offensive zone. After shots from Dalon and Vitrano sailed high, Watkins made a strong run at the goal from the right side and laced a shot past Dentler on the short side at the 27:35 mark to make it 9-6. Dentler and the Patriots’ defensive pressure were the story from there though, as the Mason netminder made 11 of her 15 saves in the second half and held the Tribe scoreless until the final two minutes of the contest.

While W&M couldn’t find any success on the offensive end, the Patriots got a score from Laura King with 18:58 remaining and a pair of goals from Bryant, the final coming with 5:57 left on the clock to put it out of reach. Sophomore midfielder Jamie Fitzgerald (Jenkintown, PA), who corralled a game-high six ground balls, set the final margin with an unassisted goal with 1:13 remaining.

Defensively, Lang and freshman midfielder Lizzy Bayly (Bowie, MD) each recorded a pair of turnovers, while Lang added five ground balls and one draw control. Sophomore midfielder Kristen Wong (Richmond, VA) added four ground balls and one caused turnover.

W&M will continue the crucial conference portion of its schedule next weekend, as it hosts a pair of CAA games at Busch Field. On Friday, the Tribe hosts Drexel at 4 p.m., before squaring off against league-leading and 10th-ranked Hofstra (3-0) on Sunday at 12 noon.

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