Sept. 28, 2007

Box Score

The George Mason women's soccer team won their Colonial Athletic Association opener on Friday night, downing Northeastern, 2-0 in front of 305 fans at George Mason Stadium. For Mason, it was their fifth win in their past seven matches and the first time since 2003 that the Patriots won their CAA opener.

Entering Friday night's contest, the Patriots (5-3-0, 1-0-0) had not scored a first-half goal all season. They took care of that problem early in the match as the Patriots scored in the 20th minute and in the 34th minute to take a 2-0 halftime lead. The win was revenge for Mason which lost at Northeastern last year, 3-0 in the 2006 CAA opener.

The game's first goal came off the foot of Rachel Wiggins, who single-handedly beat the Northeastern defense, shooting the ball from 18 yards out at midfield and putting the ball in the left top corner of the net. Fourteen minutes later, Sasha Vido found the ball at right midfield, centered to L.J. Williams who brought the ball down and blasted it for a 2-0 lead. Williams' goal also came from about 18 yards and she, too, put the ball in the top left side of the net.

The Patriot defense, meanwhile, rediscovered the strong early-season play which produced a four-game winning streak earlier this month. Mason allowed just four shots on goal and Kasey Davenport was equal to the task each and every time. Her most impressive save came in the opening minute when she made a diving stop of a Dianna Mastromaura shot. Northeastern managed just six more shots in the match while Mason took 17 shots.

The Patriots will return to action on Sunday when they host Hofstra at 1 p.m. Northeastern (2-5-0, 0-1-0) will play at Towson.