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Senior Lisa Schaaf netted a career-best three goals, but it was not enough as the American University women's lacrosse team was defeated by George Mason, 13-9, Wednesday afternoon at Jacobs Field. The freshman duo of Samantha Marshall and Chaira Speziale also recorded a pair of goals each for the Eagles in the loss.

Freshman Emily Burton began the scoring for American (3-7) on a free position shot less than three minutes into the game. Minutes later, Marshall added her first goal off an assist from sophomore Lauren Schoenberger to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead with 23:36 to play in the first half. George Mason (3-4) responded with four of the next five goals to take a 5-3 advantage at the 11:14 mark with AU's lone goal during the stretch coming off the stick of Speziale with Schaaf picking up the assist.

Speziale added her second goal of the game to get the Eagles back within one, 5-4, before the Patriots fired back to take a two-goal advantage with 9:14 remaining. Both teams would go scoreless for the final nine-plus minutes of the half, resulting in a 6-4 George Mason lead at intermission.

The Patriots began strong in the second half, netting back-to-back goals to jump out to an 8-4 lead with 23:51 to go. Freshman Kimberly Collins began the AU comeback with a score off a Schoenberger feed at the 18:51 mark. Four minutes later, Schaaf netted her first goal of the game with Speziale picking up the assist to cut the deficit to two, 8-6.

After a GMU goal extended the lead back to three, Schaaf fired right back on a free position shot to trim the Patriots' advantage to 9-7 with 7:38 to play. George Mason, however, pushed its lead to three at the 5:37 mark, although the Eagles failed to go down easily. Marshall converted a tally to get the Eagles within two, and moments later, Schaaf knocked home her third goal in an 11-minute span to get within one, 10-9, with 3:57 to play.

But that is as close as American would get down the stretch. AU freshman Laura Dawson was flagged with a yellow card at the 2:19 mark, and 18 seconds later, the Patriots' Mary Schwartz added a key insurance goal to make the score 11-9. George Mason converted two more goals in the final minute to come away with the 13-9 road victory.

Schaaf recorded career-bests with three goals and four points for American, while Speziale matched her season-high with three points on a pair of goals and an assist. Marshall's two tallies give her four goals in the last two games combined. Additionally, Schoenberger led the Eagles with two assists.

Senior Maeve Koch recorded a team-high three groundballs for the Eagles, while sophomore Emma Larkin paced AU with three draw controls.

George Mason was led by a pair of goals from Chelsea Gamble, Madalyn Jamison, Schwartz and Megan Udovich. Additionally, Jamison added four assists to give her six points in the game.

Sophomore Kaska Komosinski played all 60 minutes in goal for the Eagles, and recorded 11 saves.

For the game, the Eagles outshot George Mason, 31-27, and held a distinctive 13-4 advantage in draw controls. The Patriots, however, committed five fewer turnovers than the Eagles (18-13), and held a 20-13 advantage in groundballs collected.

AU will return to the turf of Jacobs Field on Saturday, March 27 against Lehigh in a pivotal Patriot League showdown. Game time is set for 2 p.m.