April 13, 2007

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - George Mason traveled to Hempstead, N.Y. for its first Colonial Athletic Association road game of the year but the Patriots were still unable to get in the win column, falling to the Pride by a final score of 9-6 at James M. Shuart Stadium on Friday evening. Senior midfielder Casey McGrath tallied four goals, four ground balls and three draw controls to lead the Pride.

The win was the fifth straight for Hofstra, which started the season with a 2-4 record. With the victory, the Pride improves to 7-4 overall and a perfect 4-0 in CAA play. George Mason, meanwhile, drops its third straight and falls to 5-6 and 0-3 in the conference.

Mason got off to a fast start in the contest, taking a 3-1 lead with 7:45 left in the opening stanza after junior attacker Laura King notched her 27th goal of the season off a free-position shot.

The Pride would rally at that point, though, as they closed the period with three goals in the final 3:40 to take a 4-3 lead into halftime. Four different players scored in the first period for Hofstra as freshman midfielder Corrine Gandolfi tied the score at three and senior attacker Kimberly Hillier staked the Pride to a 4-3 advantage with an unassisted goal with 1:04 remaining in the period.

Each goalie had a strong first period, with Pride keeper Maisie Osteen totaling six saves and George Mason goalie Sara Longobucco notching five saves in the opening 30 minutes. Osteen, the current Inside Lacrosse/Nike Division I and CAA Player of the Week, finished with nine saves, while Longobucco had seven for George Mason.

After closing the first period with three straight goals, Hofstra outscored the Patriots 3-1 over the first 15:25 of the second stanza to lead 7-4 after Hillier's second tally of the contest. George Mason had evened the score at four on freshman attacker Megan Udovich's 17th goal of the season before Hofstra notched the next three goals of the game.

King ended the Pride run with a free-position goal at the 10:40 mark for the Patriots, but Hofstra held George Mason to just one goal over the final 10-plus minutes of the game to earn the three-goal victory. McGrath gave Hofstra the extra breathing room with a pair of goals in the final 9:09, with redshirt junior midfielder Alex Velesz accounting for the Patriots' final goal.

McGrath scored four goals in the contest to lead the Pride. Hillier had four points in the contest as well, totaling two goals and two assists, while senior attacker Becky Thorn also found the back of the net twice. Gandolfi led Hofstra with three caused turnovers, while sophomore attacker Lauren Whitcomb and freshman midfielder K'Leigh Vanaman each had two draw controls.

King (two goals) and Udovich (one goal and one assist) led the way for George Mason in the scoring column, while Megan Bartlett had three caused turnovers.

George Mason will look for its first conference win of the season on Sunday when it travels to Philadelphia, Pa. to play Drexel at 1 p.m.