TOWSON, Md. - Senior Taylor Morgan netted two second half
goals and classmate John Gardner recorded his first career goal as the George
Mason men's soccer team ran past Towson, 3-0, on Wednesday afternoon at the
Tiger Soccer Complex.
With the win, Mason improved to 10-4 overall and 3-3 in the
CAA, while Towson dropped to 4-8-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the conference.
Mason came out aggressively in the first half, putting 11
shots on the board and forcing Towson keeper Felix Petermann to make five
saves. The Patriots fired off three consecutive shots in the sixth minute of
the match to apply pressure early, but it wasn't until the 42nd minute
when they finally dented the scoring column. Gardner scored his first
collegiate goal off of a cross from the right side by junior Zak Haapaoja for a
1-0 advantage, which Mason took into the break.
It didn't take long for the Patriots to strike in the second
half, as Morgan tallied two goals within four minutes of each other to push the lead to 3-0. His first goal came in the 53rd minute as he swiped
a mishandled ball from Towson keeper Petermann and followed that with a marker
in the 57th minute off of a helper from sophomore Benjamin Paris for
his team and conference-leading 11th goal of the season and 3-0
lead.
Keeping the pressure on, Mason's next three shots forced
Petermann into save situations, as senior Paul Andrews' shot hit the crossbar
in the 61st minute before Morgan put two more shots on goal in the
62nd and 65th minutes. The Patriots limited the Tigers to
just three shots in the second half as it cruised to the 3-0 win.
For the match, Mason owned a 16-7 shot advantage but was
held without a corner kick. Towson had six corners on the day. Senior Dustin
Butcher played all 90:00 for Mason and recorded two saves en route to his 10th
win of the season and seventh shutout. Petermann played the entirety for
Towson, stopping seven shots. Josh Danza led the Tigers with three shots,
including one on goal.
The Patriots return to action on Saturday, hosting James
Madison at 7:00 p.m. It's senior night, and the team will also recognize the
1982 team and donor Martin Dunphy before the match in addition to the 2012 Hall
of Fame class at halftime.
