George Washington University Athletics
GW Lacrosse Wraps Up Regular Season at Mason, UMass
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
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April 23, 2015
GW at George Mason - Friday, 4 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video
GW at Massachusetts - Sunday, 1 p.m. | | Live Video
WASHINGTON - The George Washington lacrosse team wraps up the regular season this weekend with a pair of road games at Atlantic 10 foes George Mason and Massachusetts. The Colonials will visit the Patriots with a chance to clinch the Revolutionary Rivalry on Friday at 4 p.m. before visiting Massachusetts on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the regular-season finale.
GW is 6-8 overall and 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play and is currently tied with Mason for third place in the A-10 standings, one game behind Richmond (5-1) in second and one game ahead of Duquesne and La Salle (3-3) in fifth. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be held at the GW Lacrosse Field from May 1-3.
The Colonials are coming off home wins over Duquesne and St. Bonaventure last weekend. Senior Rachel Mia combined for eight goals in the two games, while senior Jenn Seitz was named A-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Week after tallying seven ground balls and three caused turnovers. Freshman Brooke Sands earned her second A-10 Rookie of the Week nod after recording two goals, four draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Mia has scored at least one goal in every game this season and leads the A-10 with a career-high 43 goals - the sixth-highest single-season total in program history - while ranking 15th in the nation with 3.07 goals per game. The native of Millersville, Maryland, also ranks seventh all-time at GW with 135 career points.
Senior Jamie Bumgardner became GW's all-time assists leader last Friday against Duquesne and now has 105 in her career while ranking fourth with 167 points. She leads the A-10 with 27 assists on the year, which ranks fourth on GW's single-season list, and she is 15th nationally with 1.93 helpers per game. The Hatfield, Pennsylvania, native is also tied with Mia for fifth in the A-10 with 43 points in 2015. Bumgardner has tallied at least one point in 13 of 14 games this season and in 46 of 47 over the last three years.
Sophomore Bailey Forcier matched her career high with four goals against St. Bonaventure on Sunday and is second on the team with 24 goals while leading the Colonials with 23 draw controls this season.
Seitz, who has started all 64 games of her career, ranks third all-time at GW with 97 draw controls and fifth with 121 ground balls, two behind Laura Dominiak ('11) in fourth. She has picked up a team-best 28 ground balls this season and also leads GW with 17 caused turnovers.
George Mason (9-5, 4-2 A-10) is coming off an 18-9 win over St. Bonaventure last Friday behind a hat trick from Melissa Lobaccaro. Jacquelyn Spalding is the A-10's leading scorer with 53 points, and she ranks sixth in the league with 31 goals and third with 22 assists. Alexa McGovern has won a team-best 45 draw controls, fifth-most in the conference, and goalie Taylor Carpentier ranks second in the league with 8.86 saves per game and third with a .468 save percentage.
GW has won the last three in a row against George Mason, including a 14-7 victory a year ago behind six goals by Mia and 11 saves by Mackenzie Jones. Mia has scored nine goals in her career against the Patriots.
The winner of Friday's contest will earn a point toward the Revolutionary Rivalry standings. With four events remaining, the Colonials can clinch the year-long series with a victory, as GW enters the weekend with a four-point lead, 9.5-5.5.
Six-time defending A-10 champion Massachusetts (14-1, 6-0 A-10) is receiving votes in the most recent national poll and has won seven in a row after knocking off Saint Joseph's and La Salle on the road last weekend. The Minutewomen, who have won 34 straight A-10 games, host Richmond on Friday before welcoming GW to McGuirk Stadium on Sunday.
UMass boasts the nation's top defense, allowing just 5.33 goals per game, as goalkeeper Rachel Vallarelli leads the NCAA with a .549 save percentage and 4.78 goals-against average. The Minutewomen are also second nationally in caused turnovers (12.33 per game) and third in winning percentage (.933). Hannah Murphy ranks second in the A-10 with 35 goals, while Erika Eipp is third with 47 points (28g, 19a) to pace the conference's top offense, which averages 12.47 goals per contest. Murphy also leads the A-10 and ranks eighth in the nation with 81 draw controls, as the Minutewomen average a league-best 12.87 per game.
