Nov. 1, 2008

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - An outstanding defensive effort coupled with an opportunistic score by senior forward Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe allowed the George Mason men's soccer team to earn its third consecutive victory with a 1-0 shutout of first-place UNC Wilmington in the final home match of the regular season on Saturday evening at George Mason Stadium.

With the win, the Patriots improve to 9-6-2 overall and 5-4-1 in CAA matches, while the Seahawks fall to 10-8-0 and 7-3-0 in the CAA after taking the loss. George Mason snapped UNCW's five-match winning streak in the process. The Seahawks last loss came on Oct. 11 at Northeastern.

Mason moves into a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with 16 points following tonight's action. The Patriots are tied with William and Mary and Northeastern, who played to a 1-1 tie in Brookline, Mass. on Saturday evening. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season all earn a spot in the CAA Men's Soccer Championship, with the quarterfinal round slated to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Both defenses played well from the start as the teams combined for a total of nine shots in a scoreless first half. Each team had two shots on goal in the first 45 minutes of action.

In the 52nd minute of action, the Patriots broke the scoring drought when Adjeman-Pamboe scored his team-high fourth goal of the season. After freshman midfielder Eber Martinez blasted a shot that went off the hands of Seahawks' sophomore goalkeeper Brock Duckworth, Adjeman-Pamboe used his quickness to race in from the right side and knock the ball into the goal to give the Patriots the 1-0 lead. Adjeman-Pamboe has been on a roll recently, recording three goals and two assists in the past three contests.

That was all Mason would need as the defense continued to stymie UNCW's attack. Junior goalkeeper Sean Kelley made four saves in 90 minutes as the Patriots held the Seahawks' potent offense without a score. UNCW entered the match tied for first in the league in goals scored with 26 and ranked second in points per game with an average of 4.18 per contest. George Mason's defense shut out junior forward Devan Carroll, who entered the match leading the conference in points (20), points per game (1.25), goals scored (9), goals per game (0.56) and game-winning goals (3).

George Mason finishes its 2008 regular season schedule with a road match against second-place Old Dominion on Friday, Nov. 7 in Norfolk, Va.