PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's lacrosse team (4-6, 0-2 A-10) was defeated by George Mason (8-2, 2-0 A-10) in a close contest on Saturday, 12-11.

Bridget Ruskey scored a goal just under a minute into the game, putting the Patriots on their heels early. Brittany Edwards and Emily Johnston scored in short order as both teams traded goals for the first seven minutes of the game.

From 18:40-9:39, Mason rattled off four goals in a row to take a 5-3 lead. La Salle quickly countered with five straight of their own to take a 8-6 lead into the half. Ruskey began and ended the streak while Johnston, Sayde Walker, and Mikki Raymond had goals in between. Ruskey also had caused some key turnovers that led to goals during that stretch.

In the second half, the Patriots locked down their defense. Only Brittany Edwards (while down), Raymond, and Maddie Dachowski were able to find the back of the net.

The Explorers ultimately outshot the Patriots 33-27. They also picked up more ground balls (23-16) and caused more turnovers (15-8).

Lynne Frankel was steady in net with 10 saves. She has double-digit saves in four games this season.

Courtney Shoults had a team-high six ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers. Abbey Meehan had four grounders and four caused turnovers.

The Explorers go back on the road to battle George Washington at 2:00 PM on Friday, April 6.