Oct. 1, 2009
The George Mason women's soccer team will take to the pitch on Friday evening looking to snap a season-long two-match losing streak as the Patriots host Hofstra on Friday at 7 p.m. and Northeastern on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Pride bring a 5-3-1 record with a 2-0 conference mark into the contest while the Huskies are 6-2-1 with a 1-0-1 mark in Colonial Athletic Association action. Mason is 8-3-0 with an 0-2 CAA record.
Hofstra has faced two nationally-ranked teams this year, losing at Virginia by a 7-0 score on Aug. 30, then losing to Indiana at home, 3-2 in overtime. In CAA play last weekend, the Pride took a 3-2 road win at Delaware and 4-0 home win over Drexel. Salma Tarik and Jess Crankshaw each had four goals for the Pride while Laura Greene has one goal and four assists. Krysten Farriella has started all nine matches in goal with a 64.3 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average.
Northeastern took wins over Longwood, Cincinnati and Clemson before losing at nationally-ranked Georgia, 1-0. Last weekend, the Huskies beat Drexel 4-1 on the road before tying Delaware, 1-1 in overtime. Northeastern has just 13 goals on the year with more than half of those coming from Devin Petta. She has seven goals and three assists, both team highs. Stephanie Gordon has been in goal for the Huskies with 45 saves on 52 shots, stopping more than 86 percent of shots on goal.
The Patriots have scored 34 goals on the year while allowing nine, but nearly half of those goals allowed have been in the past two games. Mason lost to James Madison, 2-1, then fell at VCU, 2-1 in overtime. Both of the Rams goals came on penalty kicks. Mason has been led by freshman Tiana Kallenberger who has seven goals and five assists on the season. Omolyn Davis has six goals and three assists and Kelly Keelan has four goals and six assists. Katie Frey has seven of Mason's wins in net, stopping nearly 80 percent of the shots she's faced with 31 saves and eight goals allowed.
Last season, Mason suffered a 2-0 loss at Hofstra and a 1-0 overtime loss at Northeastern. Mason last beat Northeastern in 2007, a 2-0 win at George Mason Stadium. The last time Mason beat Hofstra was 2004, a 3-2 double-overtime win at Hempstead.
