ROCK HILL, SC – The Winthrop lacrosse team returns to action this weekend as the Eagles host George Mason Friday and Michigan Saturday at Eagle Field.
The Eagles will host the George Mason Patriots at 3 p.m. on Friday. The game time was moved up from the original 6 p.m. start due to the expected extremely cold temperatures. The Michigan Wolverines will face the Eagles Sunday at 1 p.m.
Winthrop enters the two-game weekend set with a 1-1 record after defeating Kennesaw State last week before falling to 12th-ranked Ohio State.
The Eagles have gotten strong offensive contributions from multiple players. Jenna Kasmarik, Shannon Gallagher, Katie Clark and Abigail Blevins have all scored five goals this season. Gallagher has also added three assists and Clark has two.
Kasmarik and Clark were both honored by the Big South this week. Kasmarik was named the Attacking Player of the Week thanks to her five-goal performance against Ohio State and Clark was tabbed the Freshman of the Week as she netted four goals and one assist against Kennesaw and one goal and one assist against the Buckeyes.
Freshman goalie Alaina Girani has played every minute of both games for the Eagles. She has recorded 16 saves including making 11 against Ohio State.
George Mason will play its first game of the season against the Eagles on Friday afternoon under the direction of first-year head coach Jessy Morgan. The Patriots finished last season with a 7-9 record. Winthrop defeated George Mason 7-6 last year in Fairfax, VA.
Junior Rachel Obregon is the team's top returner. Obregon led the Patriots last season in goals with 33, assists with 12, points with 45and caused turnovers with 11. She was second on the team in draw controls with 24 and third in ground balls with 20. The Patriots will be starting one of two freshman goalies on their roster.
Michigan enters Sunday's contest in its second year of NCAA competition with a 0-1 record after being shutout 21-0 by the 4th-ranked Florida Gators last week. The Eagles and Wolverines met in Ann Arbor last season with the Eagles coming away with a 14-12 victory.
The Wolverines played with a roster of 27 freshman last season and return 23 of those players this year. Anna Schueler and Jess Angerman are the top attacking returners for Michigan tallying 32 and 31 goals respectively last season. Allison Silber is Michigan's starting goalie and started all 17 games for the Wolverines last season. She made eight saves against Florida.
Following the two-game set this weekend, the Eagles will next entertain St. Francis on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m.
