A pair of heart-breaking road defeats this past weekend to two Atlantic 10 foes has all but guaranteed that the GW women’s lacrosse team will not qualify for the conference tournament.
The women fell 13-11 to St. Bonaventure Friday afternoon, followed by a 12-11 overtime loss to Duquesne Sunday. A year after GW’s first conference tournament appearance, the Colonials (5-9, 1-4 A-10) will likely sit out the tournament that they will host at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex May 5-7.
GW’s 1-4 conference record puts it in sixth place in the league, with only the top four conference finishers qualifying for the tournament. The Colonials need to win their two remaining A-10 games and hope the teams ahead in the standings lose.
“In practice this week we will do whatever we need to do to win,” sophomore midfielder Kristin Karcsh said Sunday after her four-goal performance. Karcsh’s final goal knotted the score at 11 with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
“This upcoming weekend we have to remember to have fun playing lacrosse,” junior defenseman Kimberly Andreola said in a phone interview after the Duquesne game in Pittsburgh.
The Colonials’ loss to Duquesne marks their second overtime loss this year in three tries.
GW’s passionate play was not enough to stop Duquesne from scoring first in overtime, which is sudden death. The Dukes’ 10th win of the season came six minutes into extra time on a Kelly Mulford goal.
Attackers Annie Howley, a senior, and Laura Hostetler, a junior, scored twice each. Duquesne held a 42-28 edge over GW in shots.
“It’s hard,” freshman midfielder Katherine Sampson said after the loss. “Everyone played as hard as they could.”
On Friday in Olean, NY., GW stumbled after an auspicious start. The Colonials dominated No. 18 St. Bonaventure early, compiling a 4-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. They entered halftime up 7-4.
The Bonnies’ offense came out blazing in the second half, posting five unanswered goals to capture their first lead of the game, 9-7. Hostetler responded by finding the back of the net with 13:23 remaining, her third of four goals in the contest. The Colonials traded goals with the Bonnies for the rest of the game but could not find victory.
“(St. Bonnaventure) caught us on our heels,” Karcsh said of the Bonnies’ run after halftime.
Howley and freshman midfielder Meghan Cratty were the other Colonials to score multiple goals Friday, tossing in two apiece.
“Down the road we’re going to be better, (since) we’ve played a lot of tough teams,” coach Chrissy Lombard said of the team’s strong schedule. “We play a lot of close games against good teams, because we are used to playing them.”
Sophomore goalie Caitlin Garman stopped 17 shots in her full-game effort. St. Bonaventure’s goalies Eileen Gagnon and Eboni Preston each played a half and combined for 10 blocked shots.
The women will round out their A-10 schedule this weekend at home – against La Salle Friday and Massachusetts Sunday. As of Saturday, the two schools are ranked seventh and fifth, respectively, in the A-10.
