Oct. 15, 2006

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason women's soccer team had a chance to pick up its biggest win of the 2006 season but the Patriots continued to be hit hard by injuries as the Patriots fell to 18th-ranked William & Mary, 3-2 in Colonial Athletic Association action at George Mason Stadium.

It was an eventful first two minutes as Mason goal keeper Kasey Davenport had to leave the match 31 seconds into the contest. Katie Hogwood beat a Mason defender and Davenport came out to meet her. The three players collided and Davenport left the match after taking a blow to the head. Olivia Brown replaced her in goal. The Patriots were already competing without four players who are lost for the season due to leg injuries.

A little more than a minute after Davenport went out, Laura Salich served a beautiful ball over top to Rachel Wiggins who beat William & Mary keeper Meghan Walker and then had to survive an attempted tackle by the Tribe before putting the ball into the open net. It was her eighth goal of the season and Salichs' third assist.

William & Mary didn't need much time to get the equalizer. In the 11th minute, Donna Mataya took a direct kick, served it to the far post where Katie Hogwood headed the ball, redirecting it to Claire Zimmeck on the right side and she put the ball in for a 1-1 tie.

The Tribe took its first lead of the match in the 32nd minute. Mary MacKenzie Grier played a long ball to Kellie Jenkins. The freshman forward played the ball high with touch over Brown who was charging to meet the play. Seconds later, the ball beat Mason defenders to the goal line and into the Patriot net for a 2-1 William & Mary lead.

The Patriots had a shot at tying the match in the 61st minute when Sarah Fack took a shot from 15 yards out that hit the crossbar. Wiggins then had a shot blocked that resulted in a corner kick, but the Patriots couldn't convert.

Mason had no problem converting a minute later off a William & Mary foul. L.J. Williams took a direct kick from 30 yards out and found Fack's head right in front of the net. Fack put the ball in for her third goal of the year and Williams picked up her third assist of the season.

Once again the Tribe struck quickly, this time, getting the equalizer just six minutes later. In the 68th minute, Zimmeck took a pass from Mataya and blasted the ball into the right corner of the net from 18 yards out. It was Zimmeck's 11th goal of the season and fourth in the past two games. That put William & Mary on top and Mason's hopes for a comeback were effectively dashed in the 79th minute when Alison Feldman was given a red-card, leaving Mason a player short. A corner kick in the 90th minute nearly turned into an own goal, but Walker was there to collect the errand ball and seconds later, the match came to a close.

Walker finished with four saves for William & Mary while Brown had five for the Patriots. The teams were relatively even in every statistical category except corner kicks, where William & Mary earned seven to Mason's one.

The Patriots return to action on Friday when they host Virginia Commonwealth at 7 p.m.