The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team dominated George Washington on Saturday afternoon, earning a 19-2 win on Senior Day at Garber Field. Led by 11 goal scorers, the Minutewomen (11-4, 8-0 Atlantic 10) remain undefeated in conference play.
Jordan Dean broke the single season record for draw controls with 221 after racking up 18 in the victory. The star junior also eclipsed 400 draw controls in her career, being only the second Minutewoman in program history to achieve that honor.
UMass continued its 10 game win streak against the Revolutionaries (4-12, 1-6 A-10) while recognizing the senior and graduating players. Right out the gate, senior Kelly Brown scored her first career goal less than two minutes into the game.
“I think we came out strong… just to have that excitement off the fastbreak, that’s the move we’ve been really doing a great job of,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “Really pushing those fastbreaks, using our speed and using our athleticism to our advantage, to start that off was amazing.”
Brown’s goal was followed by goals from Charlotte Wilmoth and Kassidy Morris, both totaling four in the game, Both goals were assisted by senior Skylar Simmonds who had a game-leading four assists.
Phoebe Mullarkey opened up the scoring for George Washington on a free position shot in the first period, but the Revolutionaries would have to wait until the fourth period to score their second and final goal. The UMass defense proved to be too much for George Washington, as the Minutewomen only allowed seven shots and completely shut out the Revolutionaries in the second and third periods.
“Just relying on their own strengths for each other. We were sending an early slide whenever it happened which wore some looks in the middle that we were wanting and were prepared for,” Drummond said. “Having that quickness, awareness; they really put in a lot of work in that yesterday and the day before after five games in two weeks so you could really tell they were tuned in, which I think is really important in how we treat the rest of these games.”
The Minutemen finished the first period with a commanding 7-1 lead. Lil Hancock scored her sixth goal of the season with 12 seconds remaining in the first which Wilmoth followed by scoring within the first 13 seconds to open up the second period, scoring her 49th on the season. The senior scored a hat trick, making it eight consecutive games with at least three goals. Morris closed out the first half with her team-leading 58th goal, as she scored her fourth of the day via a free-position goal.
Simmonds quickly opened the second half for UMass with a goal to increase the lead to 14-1. Graduate student Audra Tosone followed with a goal of her own for another Minutewomen free-position goal, collecting her fifth goal of the season. As the period ended, senior Charlotte Clavelli scored her fourth goal of the season and second of the day with 32 seconds left in the third.
The first five minutes of the fourth showed UMass working as a team to try and get senior goalie Bridgette Wall her first career goal. With four minutes left in the final period, Brigid Welch opened up the scoring, getting her second career goal. Paris Melber followed it up with another UMass goal, it being her first of the season, becoming the 11th goal scorer for the Minutewomen. Desiree Kleberg got a goal for George Washington as the buzzer sounded, scoring the second goal for the Revolutionaries.
UMass goalie Catrina Tobin got her 11th win of the season collecting one save as she played in the first half. Wall got one save while she played in the third period, with senior Gianna Cameron finishing up the game in net for the Minutewomen. George Washington goalie Arden Bogle led the game with nine saves.
“I think for us… just focusing on what happens on Monday, getting ourselves better. Our focus is not on who we are playing, it’s on us. No one’s really been to Richmond so there’s nothing to really think about, just another (game) on the road, another business trip for us and focusing on us getting better and the areas we can get better,” Drummond said.
UMass now looks to its final game of the season at Richmond on Saturday, April 27th at noon. Both teams are undefeated in the A-10 and atop the conference standings.
Maxwell Solomon can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Maxwell697909.
