Sept. 18, 2010

Box Score

The George Mason men's soccer team played an offensive-minded first half and a defensive-minded second half and the result was a 2-1 victory over a spirited Richmond squad. With the win, the Patriots improved to 4-1-0 on the year as Mason prepares for a nationally-ranked Maryland squad on Tuesday.

Mason scored in the 18th minute, then again in the 40th minute and despite a Richmond goal in the 49th minute, the Patriots were able to limit the Spiders' chances as they dropped Richmond to 1-4-1 on the year. Mason outshot Richmond 7-2 in the first half then was outshot 4-3 in the second half. Richmond had four second-half corner kicks as well but shots on goal were very much in Mason's advantage. The Patriots took seven while Richmond took just two. "We are thrilled with the great support we received tonight, especially from the Mason students," said head coach Greg Andrulis. "That support makes a big difference. We played well enough to win but could have had a better second half. It was a win but not a terrific performance. We have a lot of work to do to become a good team."

The first goal came when freshman Wesley Sever found Derek Markheim and the sophomore found the back of the net for his team-high second goal of the year. The second score came just before the half. After a Richmond throw-in was stopped by Cote, exactly the type of play which produced two Penn goals last week, the freshman goalkeeper quickly launched the attack. Ryan Gracia was able to track down the ball on the left wing deep in Richmond territory and he one-timed a cross to Victor Freeman who tapped the ball near post on the right side to make it a two-goal lead.

Richmond's goal came when Spencer Schiff found Ben Brewster for his first goal of the year. The other Richmond chance came in the 72nd minute but Cote stopped a Justin Chew shot to keep it a one-goal game.

Mason will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins at 7:30 p.m. Maryland (3-1-1) is ranked seventh in the nation. After opening the season with a 4-3 home loss to Michigan State, the Terrapins beat Northeastern 5-0, tied Boston College 1-1, beat Loyola 3-0 and topped North Carolina State, 3-1. Mason beat Maryland 2-0 last year when the Terrapins were ranked second in the nation.