WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite a late run that saw the Hawks score three goals in the final 2:20 of regulation, the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team (5-6, 0-3 A-10) fell to George Washington (4-7, 2-1 A-10) in Atlantic 10 action by a final score of 13-9 at the GW Lacrosse Field on Friday afternoon. Junior midfielder Kelly Phelan scored three goals and dished out an assist to lead SJU in scoring. 

George Washington jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the first half and never trailed by more than three goals throughout the duration of the game. 

Down 4-0, Saint Joseph's got on the scoreboard as Phelan found sophomore defender Maggie Egan on a cut in front of the net, and Grey scored on a quick shot to give the Hawks their first goal of the game with 16:01 to play in the first. 

George Washington answered with a pair of scores (11:13, 8:35) to extend its lead to four, 6-2.

The Hawks then strung together a pair of back-to-back unassisted scores from sophomore midfielder Sarah Smith and freshman defender Aly Gormley. Smith scored the first of the two, blasting her shot into the top half of the net at the 6:26 mark. Just three minutes later, Gormley buried her free position shot to pull the Hawks to within three, 6-3, with 3:27 left in the first half.

GW's Rachel Mia responded with just under two minutes to play before the break to give GW the 7-3 halftime lead. 

Phelan, who scored all three of her goals in the second half, didn't waste any time getting the second-half scoring started for the Crimson and Gray as the junior raced toward the left side of the net and fired her shot past Colonials goalkeeper Mackenzie Jones just 1:44 into the second half. 

The Colonials scored three consecutive times to extend their lead by six, 10-4, with 22:54 to play. 

Neither team would score over the next nine minutes until, with 13:58 to play, SJU's offense put pressure on GW's defensive unit and, pulling GW's goalkeeper out of position, Smith dished in a goal that would pull the Hawks to within five, 10-5.

Just 32 seconds later, junior defender Mallory Grey tore down the field and found junior attack Bonnie McShane on the run, and McShane's second goal of the season pulled SJU to within four, 10-6, with 13:26 to play.

Back-to-back goals by the Colonials would put GW up by six, 12-6, heading into the final 2:20.

However, Gormley netted her second FPS of the day and Phelan scored twice in the final 47 seconds (:47, :21), the second off of a dish from McShane, to close SJU's deficit to four, 13-9, before time expired. 

For the game, George Washington held a 27-24 edge in shots and 25-18 advantage in ground balls while Saint Joseph's earned 15 of the game's 24 draw controls. The Hawks held the Colonials to just 1-of-5 FPS shooting but were hurt by 21 turnovers, including 12 in the second half.

Phelan (6) and Smith (4) combined for 10 of SJU's 24 shots while Egan had a complete day, scoring a goal and adding three ground balls and three caused turnovers, all in the first half. Freshman Dana Garbinski earned a game-high five draw controls. 

Senior goalkeeper Nora McGeever (5-6, 0-3 A-10) made three saves in a full-game effort. 

Saint Joseph's returns to action at Duquesne next Friday, April 10. Start time at the Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.