BOONE, N.C. – Behind goals from Kelly Pizzingrilli and Emily Harvey, the George Mason women's soccer team shut down Appalachian State, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Appalachian Stadium. With the win, Mason improved to 2-5, while ASU dropped to 3-4.

“The focus today was to win but also to get a shutout and we knew this would be challenging against a plucky Appalachian State squad,” commented head coach Diane Drake. “The surface was very challenging and we handled managing the game well. It was a strong confidence enhancing match for our team and now that we have a full roster returned we are ready to take this momentum forward into a very dynamic Liberty squad.”

ASU outshot the Patriots in the first half, 7-2, but were unable to put any on goal as the Patriots struck early and forced goalkeeper Amy Kolowsky into a save when Emma Starr looked for the first goal in the 16^th minute, but Kolowsky was in position. Pizzingrilli got Mason on the board with a tally in the 19^th minute to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead. Niomi Serrano setup the play taking a corner kick for Mason as Sydney Mitchell one-timed it to the near post and Pizzingrilli one-timed it to finish the play.

Mason attacked early in the second half, doubling its lead with a score from Harvey. Mitchell was credited with her second assist of the afternoon as the Patriot crossed it from the end line and Harvey headed it in for the 2-0 Mason advantage in the 49^th minute. ASU's only shot on goal came in the 71^st minute, but Briana Kottler was in position to make the save on the Erin Settle attempt.

For the game, ASU recorded 11 shots to Mason's six as Kottler's lone save of the victory came in the second half. Both teams attempted one corner as Starr led Mason with two shots on goal.

“We chose these two matches specifically for their strong 2013 RPI and to gain experience against this physical high press style as we will see this in conference play in two weeks,” noted Drake.