Williamsburg - Zan Morley and Bunny O'Reilly each tallied a hat trick, and ninth-ranked Georgetown used a suffocating defensive effort to defeat William and Mary, 13-5, Tuesday night in collegiate women's lacrosse action at Albert-Daly Field.

Georgetown (6-2) registered 13 caused turnovers and held a 24-12 advantage in ground balls to win its 10th-straight in the series. The Hoyas out-shot the Tribe, 35-18, with Morley and O'Reilly highlighting a balanced offensive attack.

Behind another standout performance by freshman goalkeeper Sara Beckstead (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's), who recorded 15 saves for the second time in as many games, W&M (2-6) was the in the contest for most of the night, but the Tribe couldn't overcome 23 total turnovers and dropped its second-straight.

Jaime Sellers (Kennebunk, Maine) led the attack with three goals, while Jamie Fitzgerald (Jenkintown, Pa.) and Kristen Wong (Richmond, Va.) each scored once.

Both goaltenders were sharp early, as Beckstead turned away the first two Hoya shots she faced, while her counterpart, All-American Maggie Koch, stopped two Tribe shots, including an eight-meter attempt, in the opening five minutes. O'Reilly eventually broke through with the game's first goal 4:05 in.

W&M, which held a commanding 8-2 edge in draw controls in the first period, gained possession on a draw control by Fitzgerald on the restart, but the first of 10 Tribe turnovers in the first 15 minutes gave it back to Georgetown. The Hoyas wasted little time before capitalizing, as Coco Stanwick found the net at the 25:07 mark to extend the lead to 2-0.

Beckstead recorded another one of 10 first-half saves after Stanwick corralled the ensuing draw control, but when the Tribe failed to clear the defensive zone, Brittany Baschuk scored the first of two goals to give Georgetown a 3-0 cushion with 23:05 remaining in the opening stanza. O'Reilly caused a turnover then was the beneficiary of a Stanwick assist on her second goal at the 21:23 mark, which increased the Hoyas' lead to 4-0.

While Beckstead managed to keep the Hoya attack silent for the next 10 minutes with three more saves, Koch continued to keep the Tribe off the board at the other end, turning away another free-position shot to maintain the four-goal margin. W&M caught a tough break and fell behind 5-0, as Beckstead denied a close shot by Stanwick, before Morley was on the spot to collect the rebound and put away her first with 10:06 on the clock.

Sellers picked up one of her game-high tying three draw controls on the restart, but Koch, who finished with five saves, turned aside a Fitzgerald attempt to keep the Tribe scoreless. W&M finally got on the board with exactly eight minutes remaining in the period, when Wong sliced her way through traffic in front and snuck a low shot into the back of the cage to trim the deficit to 5-1.

But, Georgetown snagged the resulting draw, and Baschuck answered quickly on another assist by Stanwick only 54 seconds later. The Hoyas had two more quality scoring chances, but Beckstead stopped an O'Reilly try, then redirected an eight-meter attempt by Morley in the final five minutes.

W&M cut the deficit to 6-2 on Sellers' first goal with 1:49, and the Tribe looked as if it would head to the break down four when Beckstead tallied two more saves in the final minute. But, an offside call on the Tribe defense returned possession to Georgetown in the final 10 seconds, and the Hoyas beat the clock on a Schuyler Sutton goal with just three seconds showing to take a 7-2 lead into the half.

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2007-03-28