Sept. 10, 2006

Box Score

Charlottesville, Va. - The George Mason women's soccer team, playing without two of its top midfielders, struggled with a lack of depth and the Patriots were at times overwhelmed by the speed of 25th-ranked Georgia as the Bulldogs defeated Mason 4-0 in the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic in Charlottesville, Va.

The Patriots (3-2-1) allowed a pair of goals in each half. The Patriots played without junior midfielders Jessica Paris and L.J. Williams and sophomore midfielder Mary Raveia, all out of the contest due to injury. Sasha Vido and Patti Benner stepped into the starting lineup and both first-year players performed well in the loss.

Benner was named to the all-tournament team along with freshman Leslie Cabe and junior Sarah Fack. Fack scored Mason's lone goal in the tournament.

The shutout loss ended Rachel Wiggins streak of consecutive games with a point. Wiggins had either a goal or an assist in five straight games heading into Sunday's contest, which is the fifth-longest such streak in school history.

The Patriots played well in the early going on Sunday. Goalkeeper Kasey Davenport stopped the first four shots she faced before Georgia benefited from a penalty kick in the 25th minute. Laura Salichs was whistled for a foul in the box and Sarah Brown converted the PK for a 1-0 Georgia lead. An own goal by Mason in the 39th minute gave Georgia a 2-0 lead at the half.

The second half saw the Patriots get minutes for some first-year players. Kelly Keelan made her second appearance in net for Mason, as she played the final 21 minutes, stopping four shots. Theresa DeLucca made her first collegiate appearance as well. Their contributions weren't enough, though, as Ashley Stinson scored in the 55th minute off an assist from Carrie Patterson and Brown scored her second goal of the season in the 60th minute off a pass from Lauren Glancy.

The Patriots will have four days to rest, regroup and get healthy as Mason retakes the field on Friday night as the Patriots travel to Annapolis to take on Navy at 7 p.m. Mason's next home contest will be on Sunday when the Patriots take on Maryland, also at 7 p.m.