Junior Kristin Karcsh was so sick before the GW lacrosse team’s match up with Saint Joseph’s Sunday that she was unable to run a warm-up lap. Sixty minutes later, Karcsh had extended her point streak to 14 games and GW was a 9-1 winner.
Last week’s Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Player of the Week tallied two assists, but the Colonials (8-6, 4-1 A-10) had to rely on freshman Taylor Donohue’s four-goal effort as well as four points by junior Lindsay Melvin to topple the lowly Hawks (6-7, 1-4 A-10) on a sunny afternoon at Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.
“We needed a few people to step up with some injuries and a few people being sick, so we definitely needed that,” head coach Chrissy Lombard-Adair said. “It’s definitely going to help us down the stretch.”
With six different players scoring in the game, Karcsh said that her teammates are always there to pick her up.
“It’s all about the team,” said Karcsh, who became the sixth player in GW history to score 100 career points April 15. “It doesn’t matter who scores as long as we win, and today they came through and we won.”
The Colonials took a 3-0 lead in the first 19 minutes, and goalie Caitlin Garman recorded 10 saves while keeping Saint Joe’s off the scoreboard for more than 56 minutes.
Lombard-Adair said that the team’s focus coming into the game was to control the tempo and keep possession of the ball with temperatures in the 70s.
“It’s so hot out that we were just trying to slow the momentum down and make their defense work harder and give our defense a little bit of a rest,” she said.
Tied with Richmond for second place in the conference, Lombard-Adair noted that every game is essential in order to secure a spot in the A-10 Championship beginning May 4 at Temple.
“We don’t want to have to depend on anybody else to get us in there, so we have to keep plugging forward and getting those wins that we need,” she said.
Karcsh is largely responsible for the Colonials’ success; she leads the team with 34 goals and 15 assists. Lombard-Adair said that the midfielder’s illness during the Saint Joe’s game was the only thing that could slow her down.
“She’s been playing great,” Lombard-Adair said. “For her to be in there the whole time and still mentally be there and come up with things was definitely good. When she’s 100 percent I’m excited to see how it goes for her.”
No. 11 Georgetown 18, GW 7
GW dropped an 18-7 decision Friday afternoon at Georgetown’s Multi-Sport Field despite sophomore Katherine Sampson’s career-high-tying four goals. The Colonials went up 2-1 before the Hoyas went on a 10-3 run to close the first half.
Despite the Hoyas’ lofty ranking, Lombard-Adair said that the Colonials may have mistakenly overlooked Georgetown since the non-conference game did not count toward a spot in the A-10 Championship.
“It was hard because we kind of went in beating ourselves,” Lombard-Adair said. “They’re definitely a good team, and that was our first game playing without some big players of ours.”
Karcsh said that she looks forward to playing nationally-ranked teams like Georgetown every year.
“We let things get away from us, but it was a good learning curve, and there’s always next year,” she said.
The Colonials host Duquesne and St. Bonaventure Friday and Sunday, respectively, in their final games of the regular season.
