On Saturday, the Kent State women’s lacrosse team dropped its second matchup against George Mason.
The Flashes were outscored 7-2 in the second half en route to a 13-6 loss in their home opener.
The Flashes (0-2) had never played against George Mason (3-0) and strived to get their potential first win.
Coach Brianne Tierney said she was excited about how the defense came together to make big plays for the team.
“We have a lot of defensive players who are making things happen right now,” Tierney said. “It’s nice to be able to just sub in and out and kind of not have a drop in skill, talent or aggressiveness. So I think the depth on the defensive side helps us.”
After five scoreless minutes, George Mason scored back-to-back goals, making the score 2-0.
With five minutes left of the first quarter, senior attacker Jackie Wolford scored her second goal of the season. Not long after, sophomore midfielder Emily Bond scored to tie the game at 2-2.
George Mason tallied two more goals to finish out the first quarter, taking a 4-2 lead.
In the second quarter, the Patriots quickly tacked on two more goals.
Wolford secured her 3rd goal of the season, followed by another goal from Bond.
Wolford and Bond combined for four goals alone in the first half, closing the halftime score to 6-4.
George Mason led in shots on goal (11-7) and ground balls (9-1) at the half.
“It is a great start for them,” Tierney said. “I think that, hopefully, it opens the floodgates in some ways. You will see them really turn it on probably towards the end of the season as they continue to adjust and learn some new things.”
Senior goalkeeper Taylor Monturo had another standout game with 11 saves while facing 22 shots. On the season, she has 19 saves on 55 attempts.
George Mason started the second half strong, leading another two goals to advance the score 8-4 with 8 minutes left.
Freshman attacker Haleigh Greenberg secured her first career goal of the season with an assist by sophomore midfielder Zayda Crumpton.
It was a defensive battle from both teams, with both offenses eager to score. The Patriots scored again to make the score 9-5 with little time remaining in the third quarter.
A lot of underclassmen have been getting the opportunity to get minutes and make a difference on the field.
“It is really cool to have a lot of experience on the field. I think sometimes it is really tough on some of the underclassmen, but we’re playing a couple of freshmen quite a good number of minutes,” Tierney said. “Five of our seven seniors and fifth years are playing the majority of games. So understanding that roles are opening up, they have to continue to work towards that. It is something that I think has been eye opening for them.”
In the final quarter, the Patriots scored three goals back-to-back to make the score 12-5.
With 1:48 left, Crumpton scored her third goal of the season to make the score 12-6.
The Patriots finished the game with 30 shots with 22 on goal; the Flashes had 22 shots with 10 on goal.
KSU was forced into 17 turnovers and lost the ground ball battle 17-3.
George Mason recorded one more goal with less than a minute remaining to make the final score 13-6.
Up next, Kent State will travel to Dover, Delaware, to face off against Delaware State on Friday at 3 p.m.
KSU is 2-0 all-time against the Hornets and won both games by an average score of 12 goals.
Jack Parrino is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
