April 12, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion University Women's Lacrosse team hits the road for three of their final four regular season contests beginning Friday night when they travel to Fairfax to take on George Mason at 7 p.m. at GMU Stadium.
Old Dominion (4-9, 1-2) is coming off a pair of disappointing losses at home in CAA action last weekend. On Friday, Delaware held the Lady Monarchs to just one goal in the second half en route to a 9-5 win. On Sunday, Towson and ODU went back-and-forth in a thriller that went the Tigers way late in a 9-7 final.
The Lady Monarchs have 15 different players that have scored this season and rank in the top 20 nationally in Division I in two categories. ODU is 12th nationally in groundballs per contest (17.85) and 16th in caused turnovers per contest (8.69). Senior goalie Sarah Geary is 24th nationally in groundballs per game (2.77) and has 36 on the season to go with 88 saves and 137 goals against her. A trio of midfielders in Lisa Bernardini (28 goals, 9 assists), Rebecca Hartrum (23 goals, 8 assists) and Emily Austerberry (20 goals, 4 assists) power the offense while seniors Sarah Wright (19 goals, 5 assists) and Rebecca Reymann (18 goals, 1 assist) add to the double-digit Lady Monarch goal scorers.
George Mason (2-10, 0-3) is coming off a pair of defeats at home last weekend as well. The Patriots fell to Drexel on Friday, 16-7. On Sunday, Hofstra routed GMU, 23-7. The Patriots are led by Emily Ellisen (23 goals, 7 assists) and Mary Schwartz (15 goals, 12 assists) offensively as GMU features five double-digit goal scorers. In goal, Brittany Pastrana has seen the majority of playing time with 74 saves and 128 goals against her.
ODU leads the all-time series with Mason, 15-8. The Lady Monarchs have won three in a row in the series and four of the last five meetings. All four of ODU’s wins in that span came by a single goal. GMU’s last win in the series came in 2008 in Fairfax in a 17-7 decision. Last season in Norfolk, Old Dominion won, 10-9. In the last meeting in Fairfax back in 2010, ODU won a 10-9 double overtime thriller.
Live stats will be available here in addition to updates on Twitter at @ODULacrosse.
On Sunday, Old Dominion returns to Norfolk for their final home game of the season when they host James Madison at 1 p.m. at the Powhatan Sports Complex. All nine ODU seniors will be honored before the game and former head coach Sue Stahl will be honored at halftime. The first 200 fans will receive a free ODU Lacrosse tank top.