FAIRFAX, Va. - Seven different Patriots fueled an offensive attack as the George Mason men's soccer team blanked Howard, 9-0, Thursday night at George Mason Stadium to open the D.C. College Cup. Taylor Morgan and Hugh Roberts each scored a pair of goals in the home opener for Mason.
Controlling the pace and rhythm of the match from the start, Mason (1-1-0) outshot Howard (1-1-0) 25-4, including a 15-2 advantage in shots on goal, and won the edge in corner kicks, 8-1. Morgan scored two goals in the first half and dished out a pair of assists, while Roberts scored two goals off Brennan Zizi assists in the second half. Freshmen Verneri Valimaa and Zizi each dished out three assists in the match.
Dustin Butcher and Sean Cote split time in the net with Butcher earning the win. Both registered a save, while Bison goalkeepers Eric Hamilton and Michael Bellot combined for five saves.
Morgan opened Mason's scoring in the ninth minute converting a Valimaa overhead kick that landed in the center of the box by punching it past Hamilton into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 Patriot lead. Julio Arjona gave Mason a 2-0 advantage scoring off a Morgan rebound in the 15th minute before the Patriots rattled off three goals over the next 15 minutes to carry a 5-0 lead into halftime.
Sean O'Reilly scored off an Arjona pass before Timmy Mulgrew used a double assist by Leo Stolz and Morgan to record his first career goal in the 31st minute. Morgan closed the half with his second goal of the match in the 37th minute for the halftime tally.
Just six minutes into the second half, Roberts pushed Mason's lead to 6-0 as the sophomore tapped in Zizi's header for his first goal of the night. A minute and a half later, Zizi scored his first career goal as a Patriot when Valimaa set the freshman up with a cross pass to the left side of the box and Zizi headed the pass in from five yards out.
After 13 minutes of scoreless action, Zizi delivered a great lead pass to A.J. Sheta who kicked it out to Roberts of the left side of the box. Roberts picked up his second goal of the evening in the 70th minute off the double assist. The Patriots concluded its scoring onslaught in the 82nd minute when Zizi took a corner kick for Mason, slipped it out to Sheta on the right side who blasted a shot from 20 yards out for the final 9-0 score.
In earlier action of the D.C. College Cup, American defeated George Washington, 3-2, behind two goals from Alassane Kane and an unassisted shot from Tyler Collins. GW got on board converting a penalty kick by Yoni Berhanu and closed the gap to within one goal on a Seth Rudolph goal in the 80th minute.
The D.C. College Cup concludes on Saturday, September 3, with GW facing off against Howard at 5 p.m. and host Mason battles American at 7:30 p.m.
