WASHINGTON, D.C. – Freshman midfielder Rebecca Lane recorded nine points (5g, 4a), junior attacker Nora McCallion netted five goals, and graduate student goalkeeper Ashley Alden made a key save with 26 seconds to play to lead the Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team to a 14-12 win over George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Conference finale, played at the GW Lacrosse Field on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 8-9 overall and finish 7-2 in the A-10 while the Colonials end their season 4-13 overall (2-7 A-10).

"Today was a hard-fought battle, and I'm proud of our team for coming up with the win," said head coach Alex Kahoe following the game. "Bec and Nora stepped up offensively for us, and Ashley came up with some crucial saves, including one with under a minute, to help us secure the win."

With the victory, Saint Joseph's, picked to finish eighth in the A-10's preseason poll, finishes the league season in a tie for second with George Mason and Duquesne, and unofficially claims the fourth seed for the the Hawks' third A-10 postseason appearance in program history and first since 2009. More information on this to follow.

The first half was as close as could be as neither team jumped ahead by more than one goal for the entire first 30:00. Junior midfielder Maggie Egan (22:48), Lane (19:30), and junior attacker Sarah Smith (17:30) matched a three-goal output by the Colonials as the score was knotted, 3-3, heading into the final 17:20 of the first half.

GW jumped ahead at the 14:20 mark, but Lane scored an unassisted goal (12:28) and assisted on freshman midfielder Hayley Sabol's score (8:09) to put the Hawks back ahead, 5-4.

The Colonials would score two of the final three goals of the first half to equalizer the score, 6-6, entering the halftime break.

McCallion (29:18, 26:01) and Lane (25:26) opened second-half scoring with three of the first four goals to put SJU up by two, 9-7.

GW would score two of the next three to close its deficit to one, 10-9, entering the final 13:22, but McCallion netted back-to-back goals (9:11, 6:14) on assists from Lane and Egan to push SJU's lead out to three, 12-9, with just over six minutes to play.

George Washington's Gabbi Hull converted a pair of eight-meter shots (4:32, 3:45) to pull the Colonials to within one, 12-11, but senior midfielder Mallory Grey put away an unassisted goal with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to put SJU back up by two, 13-11, at the 2:02 mark.

The Colonials responded with a goal with 52 seconds to play to pull to within one, 13-12, and would win the ensuing draw control, but Alden stopped GW's Hull - who had already put away four goals on the day - to keep George Washington from tying it up.

Following the save, SJU cleared the ball into its offensive third, and Lane found McCallion with one tick left on the scoreboard to give the Hawks' their 14th goal of the day.

For the game, GW held a slight 29-27 edge in shots and won the ground ball battle 19-14, while each team earned 13 draw controls apiece.

Sophomore midfielder Kate Payne scooped up a team-best three ground balls while senior defender Caroline Hagan was good for two ground balls and a team-best two caused turnovers. In addition to a one-goal, zero-turnover performance, Sabol added a game-high six draw controls.

Senior goalkeeper Genevieve Giblin (8-9, 7-2 A-10) made five saves and allowed eight goals in the first 36:04 to earn her eighth win of the season. Alden made six saves and gave up just four scores in the final 23:56.

Third-seeded Saint Joseph's returns to action this upcoming Thursday, May 5 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship. For more information as it becomes available, stay tuned to SJUHawks.com.

GAME NOTES: With today's win, the Hawks finish the 2016 season with seven Atlantic 10 wins, which stands as the new single-season program record for league wins... After going 0-8 in A-10 play just a season ago, Saint Joseph's finished 7-2 in the league this year... The Hawks improve to 4-11 all-time against the Colonials and snap a six-game series winning streak for George Washington... With two caused turnovers today, senior defender Caroline Hagan extends SJU's all-time program record for career caused turnovers to 82 and moves into a tie with Kathleen Burke (2003) for fourth all-time in single-season caused turnovers (28) ... With two assists today, junior midfielder Maggie Egan extends SJU's single-season program record for assists to 30 and moves into a tie with Jenna Martino (2007-10) for fifth all-time in career assists (38)... With one assist today, junior attacker Nora McCallion moves into a tie with Alana Glanell (2009-12) for seventh all-time in career assists (32)... With five goals today, McCallion also moves into fifth all-time in single-season goals (47)... With four assists today, freshman midfielder Rebecca Lane ties with Jenna Martino (2009) and Shannon Feite (1996) for ninth in all-time single-season assists (19).