Oct. 27, 2010

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason men's soccer had a multitude of chances on Wednesday night. Chances to put away Hofstra. Chances to reclaim the lead and avoid overtime. Chances to win the match in the extra period. In the end, it was Hofstra which found the back of the net when it needed to as the Pride stole a road win from the Patriots, beating Mason 2-1 in overtime.

In the 96th minute, Mason had the advantage with a 4-on-2, but the cross was off target and Hofstra launched a quick counter. That led to a Mason foul 20 yards out on the left wing. Mike Annarumma took the direct kick, shot just right of the three-man Mason wall and found the chest of Mason junior Eber Martinez. The ball deflected off his chest and just past Mason keeper Sean Cote for the game-winner. Hofstra (6-6-4, 4-3-2) moved into second place with the win while Mason (7-6-2, 3-4-2) is now tied for seventh, but just two points out of third place. Mason's two remaining matches are against two of the three teams tied for third, Georgia State (Saturday in Atlanta) and UNCW (Nov. 6 in Fairfax).

"It's a brutal game sometimes," Mason head coach Greg Andrulis said. "The guys played their hearts out tonight and we are very proud of them. At the end of the day good fortune fell to Hofstra tonight. When you hit three posts and have two cleared off the goal line, it's tough. Credit to their goalkeeper for making some incredible saves as well. We gifted them their first goal and an unfortunate deflection gets them the game-winner. Cruel result for sure."

Mason nearly got on the board in the fifth minute when Brent Brockman crossed, keeper Robert Pellegrini got a hand on the ball but it went to Ernesto Marquez. He headed the ball to Ryan Gracia who shot only to have Hofstra defender Shaun Foster stop the ball just shy of the goal line. Five minutes later, Ernesto Marquez and Hugh Roberts got behind the defense but Roberts just missed the cross and no Mason player was at the far post to capitalize on the empty net.

Mason didn't waste its chance in the 26th minute. Ryan Gracia played a deep ball over the defense to Derek Markheim on the left wing. Markheim cut inside and crossed to a diving Victor Freeman who headed the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Gracia nearly made it 2-0 in the 50th minute but he hit the crossbar and Freeman's follow went wide. In the 62nd minute, Markheim's shot from 10 yards was stopped but this time Freeman couldn't get to the rebound in time as another opportunity came up short. Hofstra made Mason pay in the 67th minute when a long ball was played into the Mason box and Sean Cote tried to punch it out. He connected with a Hofstra defender and the loose ball came to the head of Chris Griebsch who put the ball in just under the crossbar.

The Patriots nearly retook the lead moments later when Wesley Sever played a beautiful cross into the box and after several deflections, Freeman got his foot on the ball but Pellegrini stymied the shot to keep it 1-1. In the 83rd minute, Marquez crossed to an unmarked Walton but his header went high. Wesley Sever's header in the 90th minute went high as well and the game went to overtime.

The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they play at Georgia State at 6 p.m.