George Washington University Athletics
2010 Women's Lacrosse Opening Draw at Drexel Sunday
2/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 18, 2010
WASHINGTON - The George Washington women's lacrosse team travels to Philadelphia, PA, Sunday to take on Drexel in its 2010 season opener. The Colonials, who return nine starters and 15 letterwinners from last season, will look to make back-to-back trips to the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time in program history this spring.
GW was picked to finish fifth in the A-10 preseason coaches' poll after tying for fourth with a 4-3 league record in 2009. The fourth-seeded Colonials fell to regular season and tournament champion Massachusetts, 12-9, in the semifinals to finish 5-11 overall.
GW has lost all three previous meetings with Drexel, each coming within the past three seasons. The Colonials dropped a 10-9 decision in their last trip to Vidas Field March 2, 2008, and fell 13-8 to the Dragons at Mount Vernon last March.
Senior Taylor Donohue, a second team All-Atlantic 10 performer last spring, is among the Top 7 all-time at GW in goals, assists and points and will be the focal point of the Colonials' attack. She'll be joined by 2009 A-10 Rookie of the Year Sarah Phillips, A-10 All-Rookie Team selection Megan Seidman and A-10 All-Championship pick Audrey Joy. Redshirt junior Laura Dominiak and senior Kelsey Honeyford will captain the defense in front of returning goalkeepers Liz Hoffman and Christine Lovett.
Drexel held on late for an 11-10 victory over American Wednesday to improve to 2-0 this spring. The Dragons knocked off Virginia Tech, 13-9, in their season opener on the road Feb. 13, before knocking off the Eagles in their home debut Wednesday. Drexel posted an 8-2 record in non-conference action last season, but finished last with an 0-7 mark in CAA play.
2010 GW Women's Lacrosse Season Preview
The George Washington women's lacrosse team raced into the driver's seat in the Atlantic 10 last spring with three straight conference wins, then slumped with three consecutive league losses before clinching their third A-10 postseason berth in the regular-season finale.
GW drew eventual league champion Massachusetts, a team it lost to 18-5 earlier in the season, in the A-10 semifinals and trailed by five midway through the second half. It was at this point head coach Tara Hannaford saw a change - "there was a certain confidence and belief in each other and our system that got us back into that game." Despite its rally coming up just short against the Minutewomen, Hannaford feels this year's team can build off of that late-season revelation. "We are still a young team, but our upperclassmen are more experienced and we're deeper and faster compared to recent years. We qualified for the A-10 Championship in 2009, but this team has the desire to achieve more in 2010."
The Colonials return nine starters and 15 letterwinners from last season and have added a 10-player recruiting class. The team will welcome the return of two-year starting defender Laura Dominiak, who missed all of 2009 due to injury, but will have to fill a gap in the attack left by Mia Breheny, who will miss the 2010 season after totaling 55 goals the last two years.
Despite the absence of Breheny, the Colonials still return five of their top seven scorers from 2009, highlighted by senior attack Taylor Donohue. Donohue set a new program mark with 27 assists and led GW and finished eighth in the A-10 with 57 points last spring to earn second team All-Conference honors. One of this year's team captains, Donohue has stepped into a leadership role in her final season according to Hannaford and will look to add a goal-scoring mentality to her role as a playmaker. Likely to join Donohue at starting attack are sophomores Megan Seidman and Kristina Beese. Seidman ranked third on the team and tops among all freshmen with 23 goals in 2009 and was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team, while Beese totaled 13 goals in 12 starts during a solid rookie campaign. Sophomore Emily Perling and freshmen Abby Sneeringer and Hannah McLaughlin are expected to provide an offensive spark off the bench.
Junior Audrey Joy and sophomore Sarah Phillips lead a relatively young, but skilled and accomplished midfield. Joy was the lone Colonial named to the A-10 All-Tournament Team after matching a career-high three goals against the Minutewomen, while Phillips starred in league play with 13 goals and 15 assists in seven games to capture A-10 Rookie of the Year honors. Sophomore Casey Disharoon and freshmen Nicole Lacey and Bridgett Lynn, both US Lacrosse honorable mention All-Americans in 2009, and rookie Kristen Dunphey will see time across the middle.
Defensive captains Dominiak, who started all 34 games her first two seasons and will enter 2010 fully healthy, and senior Kelsey Honeyford, who has started 35 consecutive games, will team in low defense. Senior Katelyn Langs and sophomore Hilary Quinn will be counted on to shore up holes left in defensive midfield by the graduation of A-10 All-Conference performers Alaska Burr and Katie Lilly. Senior Meghan Ottolini and rookies Emmy Aras, Logan Healy, Caitlyn O'Brien and Natalie Stella and will also push for time in defense. O'Brien was a US Lacrosse first team All-American at Arizona's Desert Mountain High last season.
Hannaford's defense will be armed with a pair of seasoned goalkeepers this season with experienced juniors Liz Hoffman and Christine Lovett between the pipes. Hoffman started 15 games and played more than 850 minutes last spring after totaling just 46 minutes as a rookie in 2008, while Lovett made two starts and saw 174 minutes of action in seven games. The Colonials will also have a third option in goal in freshman Jess Hicks.
The Colonials' non-conference schedule features five contests at Mount Vernon Field, beginning with intra-District foe American Feb. 24, and visits to regional rival George Mason and end-of-year top 20 programs Towson and Ohio State in March. GW hosts A-10 finalists UMass and Saint Joseph's, as well as Temple, before completing league play with three consecutive road games. The 2010 A-10 Championship will be held at Duquesne's Rooney Field in Pittsburgh, PA, April 23 and 25.
