March 31, 2006

Box Score

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FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason opened up its Colonial Athletic Association schedule with a 14-13 win against No. 20 Hofstra on Friday afternoon at George Mason Stadium. With the win, the Patriots improve to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Pride drop to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

After Hofstra's Casey McGrath scored the first goal of the game, Mason countered with four consecutive goals, two by sophomore attacker Laura King, to take a 4-1 lead with 19:50 remaining in the first period. Later in the period, with 12:23 remaining, junior attacker Kimberly Hillier passed the ball to freshman midfielder Sandy Wasserbach, whose shot found its way past Mason goalkeeper Roxie Alsruhe for a goal to cut Mason's lead to one at 5-4. The Patriots ended the period with three consecutive goals to take an 8-4 lead heading into the break.

In the second period, Hofstra mounted a comeback, and scored eight of the first 12 goals in the first 19:27 of the period to tie the score at 12 with 11:33 remaining in the game. With the score tied, the Patriots scored the next two goals, with King scoring her fourth goal of the game at 7:20 and Velesz scoring Mason's final goal, and her third of the game, on a free-position shot with 6:27 remaining. McGrath scored an unassisted goal with 3:24 left in regulation to cut the Pride's deficit to one goal at 14-13. Still clinging to a one-goal lead with 1:55 left in the game, Mason's attack was able to hold onto the ball, and run out the clock to preserve the victory.

King led Mason with four goals, while Velesz chipped in three. McGrath had a game-high five goals for the Pride. Hofstra committed eight more fouls than Mason in the game, and the Patriots were able to cash in on their free-position attempts, going 6-for-7 on free position shots in the game. Meanwhile, the Pride connected on only one of five free position shots.

The Patriots will attempt to earn their second conference victory of the season when they play the Drexel Dragons at George Mason Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Score by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
HOFSTRA.............  4  9 - 13
George Mason........  8  6 - 14

HOFSTRA SCORING: GOALS: McGrath, Casey 5; Whitcomb, Lauren 3; Rabuano, Jamie 2; Hillier, Kimberly 1; Wasserbach, Sandy 1; Guerriere, Catherine 1. ASSISTS: Hillier, Kimberly 1; Irving, Jaime 1; Wasserbach, Sandy 1.

George Mason SCORING: GOALS: King, Laura 4; Velesz, Alex 3; Venturi, Melissa 2; Curry, Melissa 1; Berger, Brittany 1; Bryant, Sarah 1; Shelton, Jess 1; Celano, Jenna 1. ASSISTS: Curry, Melissa 2; Venturi, Melissa 2; Berger, Brittany 1; Bryant, Sarah 1.

HOFSTRA GROUND BALLS: Osteen, Maisie 3; Guerriere, Catherine 1; Hillier, Kimberly 1; Irving, Jaime 1; McCaffrey, Kerry 1; Rabuano, Jamie 1; Wasserbach, Sandy 1; Whitcomb, Lauren 1.

George Mason GROUND BALLS: Velesz, Alex 4; King, Laura 3; Venturi, Melissa 3; Alsruhe, Roxie 1; Bartlett, Megan 1; Bohn, Sarah 1; Brady, Michele 1; Celano, Jenna 1; Curry, Melissa 1; Shelton, Jess 1.

HOFSTRA TURNOVERS CAUSED: Osteen, Maisie 2; Hillier, Kimberly 1; Recco, Alicia 1. George Mason TURNOVERS CAUSED: Berger, Brittany 1; Brady, Michele 1; King, Laura 1.

SHOTS - HOFSTRA 33; MASON 32. SHOTS ON GOAL - HOFSTRA 27; MASON 25.

PENALTIES - HOFSTRA 0/0:00; MASON 0/0:00. MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - HOFSTRA 0-0; MASON 0-0.

TURNOVERS - HOFSTRA 13; MASON 12.

FACEOFFS - HOFSTRA 0-0; MASON 0-0.

CLEARS - HOFSTRA 11-12; MASON 12-12.

GOALIES - HOFSTRA: Osteen, Maisie 3-5 (60:00 minutes, 25 shots-11 saves, 14 GA); MASON: Alsruhe, Roxie 5-3 (60:00, 27-14, 13).

Start time: 4 pm Finish time: 5:35 pm Length of game: 1h 35m Officials: Jackie Hufnell; Tim Lang; Jen O'Donnell.

A-77 T-1h 35m