Lacrosse celebrated Senior Day with a win over VCU Saturday that claimed the Colonials a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The Colonials (5-12, 3-6 A-10) never trailed in the game and came out with a 13–8 victory over the Rams (7-10, 3-6 A-10) led by sophomore midfielder Phoebe Mullarkey’s third career hat trick and a strong defensive showing by senior goalkeeper Megan Patrick. GW needed the win, which came on its Senior Day game, to qualify for the A-10 Championship for the fifth time in program history and the first since 2013.
The Colonials opened the scoring with senior midfielder Tori Hampton’s goal 36 seconds into the contest before senior midfielder Kendall Lambert knocked in a goal of her own 38 seconds later off a feed from junior midfielder Amber Germer to give the Colonials an early 2–0 lead.
Germer weaved through the field and tacked on another goal to bump the lead to 3–0 with 9:37 remaining in the first quarter. After a VCU timeout, the Rams responded with a goal from senior attack Abby Osmeyer with 6:59 left in the quarter.
The Colonials quickly regained a three-goal lead after Mullarkey slotted a shot past VCU redshirt junior goalkeeper Meghna Dawar. Osmeyer wasted no time responding, scoring to keep the Rams within striking distance at 4-2.
GW led a creative finish with a goal by senior attacker Maddy O’Brien coming off an assist from senior midfielder Alana Greene. After a strong first quarter, GW led 5–2 going into the second.
Osmeyer wouldn’t let the Rams go quietly and scored her third time of the day with an assist from junior attacker Juliana George, marking Osmeyer’s fourth hat trick of the season.
She shouldered the offensive load for the Rams, scoring her fourth goal of the day to cut the deficit to 5–4 with 1:33 left in the half. GW quickly responded in the last 40 seconds of the second quarter with a goal from senior attacker Sophia Watkinson off a Germer assist.
At the half, GW led 6–4 with all four of VCU’s goals coming from Osmeyer.
VCU started to fire back when senior midfielder Savannah Slack cut to the goal after receiving a pass from freshman midfielder Mason Whitmore and rushed it past GW senior goalkeeper Megan Patrick. Sophomore midfielder Morgan Reed tied the game at six with 8:46 left in the third quarter, as Osmeyer nabbed an assist on the goal.
Greene and junior attacker Katelyn Walker responded with two goals within the minute to put the Colonials back on top 8-6 with 6:15 left in the quarter. Three minutes later, Mullarkey whipped an underhand shot into the bottom corner to extend the GW lead to 9-6.
Freshman attacker Mia George was able to stop the GW run and score a goal off an assist from Reed, widening the score difference to 9–7 heading into the fourth quarter.
The offensive tear continued in the fourth quarter – Hampton scored off a Watkinson assist before sophomore attacker Katie Lederman gave GW an 11–7 lead with 11:42 left. After some stout fourth-quarter defense, the Colonials tacked on two insurance goals from O’Brien and Mullarkey to make the lead 13-7, their largest lead of the day.
The Rams got a consolation goal from George with 34 seconds left to set the final score at 13–8.
Patrick recorded a season-high 19 saves during the match to hold down the defense for the Colonials.
The Colonials qualified for the A-10 Championship with the victory, edging out La Salle – who lost their final game against St. Joseph’s – for the sixth-seed slot in the tournament. GW plays third seed St. Joseph’s at 2 p.m. Thursday in the A-10 Quarterfinals.