Sept. 18, 2009
Box Score
The George Mason women's soccer team entered the Mason Tournament on Friday with the fifth-ranked scoring offense in the nation. The opposition, the Long Island Blackbirds, entered with the eighth-ranked scoring defense. And while Mason was held well below its season average of more than four goals per game, the LIU defense wasn't strong enough to keep Mason from adding another win to its already impressive total. The Patriots took a 1-0 victory on Friday night at George Mason Stadium to improve to 6-1 on the season.
The Blackbirds are ranked ninth in the Northeast by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America while Mason is ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic. Fresh off winning the Tribe Tournament last weekend at William & Mary, Mason showed that it is still a very hungry team as the squads combined for 23 fouls and Mason survived seven corner kicks by LIU. Katie Frey saved all three shots on goal by the Blackbirds.
Mason started the scoring in the 19th minute. After being fouled just outside the 18 for the second time in the match, Omolyn Davis took the kick from the right side, found Patti Benner's head on the left side and she directed a perfect pass to Tiana Kallenberger on the right side. The freshman scored her fifth goal of the season to make it 1-0. The Patriots nearly made it 2-0 in the 41st minute but LIU goalie Jennifer Bannon got her hands on Annie Lebherz' shot to keep it a one-goal game. In the 44th minute, Davis took a pass from Kimmy Moss 10 yards out but she had no room to maneuver and Bannon stopped her shot.
The opening minutes of the second half saw Long Island more aggressive. The Blackbirds were whistled for fouls but they also had several scoring opportunities and quickly snuffed a pair of Mason attacks. Despite the more direct play, the Patriots were able to hold onto the lead. Mason even had a terrific opportunity to add to it in the 78th minute when Davis and Kelly Keelan broke free. But Keelan's shot from the left wing was just wide and the lead remained precarious. In the 85th minute, LIU just missed the equalizer on Samantha Bock's free kick but the ball bounced just over the crossbar.
In the tournament's first match, William & Mary and Cornell played a balanced game that saw the Tribe score the contest's lone goal in the 61st minute. Katrina Smedley had the ball at midfield about 25 yards out, she found Krissy Vornadore on the left wing and Vornadore fired the ball just inside the right post for her first score of the year. Cornell got six saves from Kelly Murphy but they had just three shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Grace Barnard.
The Mason Tournament will conclude on Sunday when Long Island plays William & Mary at Noon while Mason takes on Cornell at 2:30 p.m.
