FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's soccer team closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule Sunday afternoon, dropping a 3-0 decision to former league foe Delaware.
It was a quiet first half after Liz Hodges forced Delaware goalkeeper Jess Figueroa into a save just six minutes into action until the Blue Hens tried to take the lead in the 20th minute of play on a Natalie Zelenky shot, but Lyndse Hokanson made the stop. A pair of corner kicks in the 30th and 32nd minutes of play turned into strong attempts for Delaware as Elise Kraue headed an attempt first before Allegra Gray followed with a shot on goal as Hokanson made both stops.
The Blue Hens opened the scoring late in the period with a Chelsea Duffy tally in the 42nd minute. From the near corner, Shannon Kearney crossed it to Kraue amongst a trio of Mason defenders. Kraue was able to slide around and pass it off to Chelsea Duffy who completed the play just over the goal line for the 1-0 Delaware lead that stood at intermission.
Delaware took a 2-0 lead early in the second half using Alison Slark's first goal of the season. Slark connected on a Dianna Marinaro corner kick to give the visiting squad a two-goal advantage. Mason saw one of its best scoring opportunities come in the 76th minute. Jazmin Cardoso, fouled just outside the top of the box, tried to slip the free attempt past a row of Delaware defenders, but the shot went just wide. Duffy's second goal of the contest gave Delaware its final 3-0 lead in the 87th minute. Duffy converted a penalty kick to account for the final score.
“Today we came out with a game plan and we stuck to it,” commented head coach Diane Drake. “It was a difficult loss, but now we will take a couple days off to regroup and get healthy. We open the 'second' portion of our season in conference play this week with a clean slate.”
For the game, Delaware narrowly outshot Mason (9-7), but put seven shots on frame to Mason's three. Both goalkeepers played the full 90 minutes with Hokanson making four stops and Figueroa making three.
Mason plays its first conference contest as a member of the Atlantic 10 next, traveling to Dayton, Ohio to take on the Flyers in a Friday, October 4 contest. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
