NORFOLK, Va. - In the Colonial Athletic Association opener
for both teams, the George Mason women's soccer team battled to a 4-4 double
overtime tie against the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs Friday night at the Old
Dominion Soccer Complex. The Patriots erased a two-goal halftime deficit and outscored
the Lady Monarchs 3-1 in the second half to force overtime. Mason moved to
3-3-3 overall on the year and 0-0-1 in CAA play, while ODU now stands at 3-4-2,
0-0-1.
"I was disappointed with how we started in the first half,
but I was very pleased and impressed with our response," stated head coach
Diane Drake. "We came back strong against a very athletic Old Dominion team.
This was a good lesson for the team to see that anything can happen in
conference play."
Two late first half goals put the Lady Monarchs up 3-1 at
halftime. Old Dominion capitalized early in the contest, scoring in the 10th
minute as Mason tried to find its rhythm of play. Lisa Bernardini slipped a
pass from the right as Ashlee Coutu beat Mason goalkeeper Alex Bodenschatz to
the right and punched it in just inside the post.
Mason evened the score in the 40th minute on an
Alyssa Andersen tally. Tiana Kallenberger was credited with the assist as
Andersen found the open net on Kallenberger's deflection for a 1-1 score.
Just over two minutes later, however, the Lady Monarchs
reclaimed the lead when Victoria Johnson received a Taylor Mertz pass from the
left side in the middle and completed the play for a 2-1 ODU lead in the 42nd
minute. Old Dominion extended its lead to 3-1 just three minutes later when
Jessica Klamut finished a pass from Rachel Carroll at the 44:30 mark.
The Patriots picked up their play to open the second half
and connected on just their second attempt of the period, cutting the score to
3-2 with 20 minutes to play. Picking up her second assist of the night,
Kallenberger sent a cross to Mary Kate Lowry from the right side as Lowry
headed the pass inside the right post for her first goal of the season in the 71st
minute.
Both teams scored just over a minute apart as Mason knotted the
score at 3-all in the 80th minute when Zoe Doherty scored off a
Nicole Clark deflection, but ODU scored 67 seconds later to take a 4-3
advantage. Tori Diersen setup a long pass to Kate Kelly as the Lady Monarch found
the open net for the lead.
The Lady Monarchs pressured the Patriots to hold onto the
win, but Mason would not go lightly, tying the score for the third time with
less than two minutes to play in regulation. Liz Hodges scored her third goal
of the season off an assist from Lyndse Hokanson and blasted it in from
25-yards out for the equalizer.
Mason created a couple of scoring chances in the overtime
periods, but could not find the back of the net. Both teams took four shots in
overtime with Mason putting one shot on goal. Hokanson smothered a pair of ODU attempts
to keep the Lady Monarchs off the board.
The conference foes combined for 39 shots on the evening
with ODU holding a narrow 20-19 advantage, including a 12-11 shots on goal
margin. Andersen led the Patriots with four shots, while Kallenberger and
Doherty added three apiece. All three of Kallenberger's attempts were on frame.
Bodenschatz and Hokanson split the time in the net, combining for eight saves,
four apiece. Brianna Alvarado played the full 110 minutes for ODU, recording
six saves.
The Green and Gold return to the pitch and
continue conference play at William and Mary on Sunday. Match time is slated
for 3 p.m.
