Nov. 10, 2002
Freshman Jason Gates scored his first collegiate goal with 5:44 left in regulation to break a 1-1 tie and give Hofstra a 2-1 victory over George Mason in a Colonial Athletic Association men's soccer game Sunday afternoon at University Field in Hempstead, NY.
The loss ended George Mason's season as the Patriots finished 8-7-4 overall, 3-4-2 and in seventh place in the CAA. James Madison's 1-1 tie at Drexel Sunday clinched the final two berths in the six-team CAA Tournament for the Dukes and Dragons. Hofstra finished at 10-7-1 overall, 3-6 in the CAA.
Hofstra took a 1-0 lead at the 22:51 mark of the first half when junior Arni Gunnarsson one-timed a diagonal through-ball that found sophomore Jochen Strobel in the upper left corner of the penalty area. Strobel turned and fired a left-footed shot inside the right post for his team-high eighth goal of the year.
The Patriots nearly evened the score in the closing minutes of the half, but a 20-yard shot by freshman Sean Malee hit off the bottom of the crossbar and bounced straight down off the goal line. But George Mason did knot the score at 1-1 early in the second half on a play that began near midfield. Junior Barry Suber dribbled up the middle and passed the ball into the corner down the right wing to Malee, who ran onto the ball and sent a hard cross to the far post, where freshman Steve Alabi was able to one-time a shot from six yards into the net for his eighth goal of the season at 52:59. George Mason nearly had the go-ahead goal just two minutes later as Alabi got to a loose ball in the Hofstra box and half-volleyed a hard shot that Pride goalkeeper Justin Varrone kept out of the net with a diving one-handed save.
The game-winning goal was set up when Hofstra sophomore Matthew Telling made a 50-yard run up the center of the field, beating three Patriot defenders. He then drew a George Mason defender to him and slipped a diagonal pass to Gates, who came in from the right side and slipped a low shot past Patriot sophomore goalkeeper John O'Hara and into the lower-left corner of the net.
Varrone, who was making his first start of the season as part of Hofstra's Senior Day, had four saves, while O'Hara had three saves in the loss for George Mason.
