RICHMOND, Va. – Appearing in its first Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship game, the George Mason women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to St. Bonaventure at Sports Backers Stadium Thursday night. Mason, the #5 seed, outshot #4-seeded St. Bonaventure, 15-8 in the contest.
“I am proud of the girls as they did everything we asked them to do,” head coach Diane Drake commented. “We attacked space, we possessed and we controlled the game. We just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and they got an opportunistic counter and put the game away. I congratulate St. Bonaventure on moving on to play Dayton tomorrow.”
Controlling the majority of possession in the first half, the Patriots outshot the Bonnies 7-2 in the opening half, including a 3-0 shots on goal advantage, but could not find the back of the net as the teams entered intermission scoreless. Jazmin Cardoso looked to put Mason on the board with just seconds left on the clock, blasting a shot from just outside the box, but goalkeeper Megan Junker punched it back into play to keep the scoreboard clean for the half.
As the second half got off to a slow start for both teams, Emily Harvey tried to finish a combination, but the header shot was stopped by Junker in the 65th minute. St. Bonaventure threatened in the 74th minute posting two consecutive shots on goal. Abby Maiello received a Molly Curry pass as Hokanson punched the shot left. On the ensuing play, Lauren Hill tried to convert, but Hokanson was in position to pick up her third save of the evening.
After Junker dove to her right to stop an Emma Starr shot on goal, the Bonnies broke through on the other end with a Maiello goal in the 77th minute. Brittany Charles served it to the far corner of the net as Maiello slipped it behind Hokanson for the tally and game-winning goal. With just over a minute left, Liz Hodges came up with the ball in front of the goal and tried to even the score, but Junker made the stop to close out the game.
Cardoso and Emma Starr led Mason each with four shots in the contest, while Harvey posted two shots on frame to lead Mason in shots on goal. Controlling possession, Mason recorded six shots on goal to St. Bonaventure's four.
