BALTIMORE, Md. – With just one minute expired into the second overtime period, sophomore forward Emma Starr scored the only goal of the contest, sealing a 1-0 victory for the George Mason women's soccer team at Loyola Tuesday night. With their second straight win, the Patriots improved to 3-3-1 on the season. Loyola dipped to 1-5-1.
The teams played through three scoreless periods before Mason finally broke through in the 102nd minute with Starr's first goal of the season. The Patriots put four shots on goal during regulation, but was unable to find the back of the net until just over a minute into the second overtime period. Glancing off a Loyola defender, Starr gained control of the ball on the right side of the net and sent a shot from 14-yards out past the goalkeeper for the game-winning tally.
For the game, Jazmin Cardoso led Mason with four shots, three on goal, followed by Brenna Connell with three shots including two on target. Overall, Mason outshot Loyola 14-11 and put 10 shots on goal, forcing Loyola goalkeeper Didi Haracic into nine saves. Lyndse Hokanson played the full game in net for the Patriots to pick up the win, recording four saves.
Hokanson opened the game making four saves in the first period to keep the Greyhounds off the scoreboard as the teams stood scoreless at intermission. Sydney Mitchell put Mason's only shot on goal in the first half coming in the 17th minute. Both teams placed three shots on goal in the second period, but none would convert as Loyola opened the stanza placing all three shots on goal within the first four minutes, but would be tamed the rest of the period. Mason's Kylie Shultz threatened in the 82nd minute for the final shot on goal in regulation. Cardoso and Connell tried to seal the win in the first overtime, but Haracic came up with a pair of saves to force the final overtime stanza.
“Tonight was a defining game for us to go midweek on the road and find a way to win in overtime,” stated head coach Diane Drake. “I'm very proud of our ladies and how they responded to pockets of the game that we lost the flow. They figured it out and found a way to rise and take the game back. Tonight was a statement of our maturation as a squad.”
Mason will look to continue its momentum hosting Atlantic 10 rival VCU in a Friday night in a non-conference match. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at George Mason Stadium in the Game of the Week.
