FAIRFAX, Va. – For the second time this season, sophomore Emma Starr sealed a George Mason women's soccer victory in overtime. This time, Starr's tally in the 97th minute proved to be the game-winner in Mason's first Atlantic 10 Conference victory coming against Saint Louis, 1-0, at George Mason Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Mason improved to 4-7-1 on the season and 1-1 in A-10 play, while handing Saint Louis its first conference loss of the season. The Billikens dipped to 2-1 in conference play and 3-9-1 overall.
Both teams saw solid scoring opportunities throughout the contest as 11 saves were made between both squads. At the end of regulation, Mason had recorded 14 shots to Saint Louis' eight, but it was on the third shot from Mason in overtime when the Patriots converted. Starr opened the extra period with an attempt that sailed high before senior Nicole Clark attempted a header that went wide. Just over a minute following Clark's header, Brenna Connell carried the ball up the near side. The freshman passed it off to Starr who was 30-yards out in the center of the goal. Starr one-touched the pass and blasted a shot that just escaped Lindsay Elking's hands for the goal.
Mason came out of the gate strong in the first half, forcing replacement Saint Louis goalkeeper Elking into three saves in the first five and a half minutes of play. The Patriots put together a solid opportunity on a Jazmin Cardoso corner kick in the fourth minute of action. Cardoso took the corner from the near side and placed it at the far post finding Kelly Pizzingrilli who tried to head it past Elking, but the Billiken was there for the stop.
The second half saw a pair of Saint Louis attempts stopped by Lyndse Hokanson. Tori Belgeri, in the 66th minute, tried to give the Billikens the go-ahead with a header off a Jessie Jarrett free kick, but Hokanson made the diving save to keep the slate clean. SLU posed another threat in the 77th minute of play when Jamei Borges tried to connect on another Jarrett free kick, but Hokanson dove down to make the save.
Late in the second half, Mason's Emily Harvey looked for the game-winner, blasting a shot straight to Elking who punched it back into play and on the rebound, Harvey looked for the goal, but the shot went high in the 85th minute.
For the game, Mason outshot Saint Louis (17-8), including a 9-3 shots on goal advantage. Liz Hodges, along with Harvey and Starr, each posted three shots. Hokanson made all three saves for the Patriots as Elking recorded eight for Saint Louis. Briana Kottler played the final 18:59 minutes of action to pick up the win for Mason.
Mason hits the road for an A-10 match at Rhode Island on Friday, October 11. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
