FAIRFAX, Va. – In a span of a minute, the momentum swung against the George Mason men's soccer team and the Patriots never recovered.

Mason suffered a 3-0 loss to La Salle on Saturday night at George Mason Stadium. After the Patriots nearly scored in the 19th minute, the Explorers found the back of the net 67 seconds later. La Salle added two goals in the second half as Mason was shut out for the third time this season.

The Patriots (2-10-2, 0-5-1 A-10) looked like they had taken an early lead in the 19th minute. Jordan Edwards served a cross into the box that deflected off a La Salle defender and then bounced off Explorers goalkeeper Cameron Keys. The ball appeared to hit the net just inside the crossbar in the middle of the goal but no goal was called as Keys knocked the loose ball away. 

Just more than a minute later, after a foul on the Patriots, La Salle's Colman Kennedy sent in a free kick. The ball was settled by Johnny Ciarlante, who tapped in a goal to the left of Mason keeperSteffen Kraus.

"The play before that we think we have a goal," Mason head coach Greg Andrulis said. "(Then) we get caught dribbling in the midfield, we get stripped and the next pass is in the back of the net off a set piece. We haven't been good enough defensively for the season. The number of goals we've given up, we just don't have any answer for that. No matter what we've tried or who we've tried we haven't been able to solve that problem."

After allowing the first goal, the Patriots adjusted their game plan and sent more players forward on offense in hopes of finding the equalizer. They weren't able to manufacture a goal despite 11 shots and six on goal.

La Salle (8-7, 3-3), on the other hand, took advantage of the Patriots' lack of numbers in the back and scored twice in the second half. The Explorers' Matt Robinson stretched the lead to 2-0 in the 70th minute and Hayden Criollo found the back of the net on a counter attack with less than five minutes left.

"Once they got the first (goal) we had to throw caution to the wind and put a lot of numbers forward," Andrulis said. "(La Salle) was able to take advantage of that. We needed a better result tonight and it just wasn't meant to be."

Freshman Raheem Lawal came off the bench and led the Patriots with three shots, including two on goal. Matt Tucker and Edwards had two shots apiece. La Salle recorded 14 shots, with seven on goal as Kraus made four saves for Mason.

The Patriots return to action next week when the play Rhode Island at 7 p.m. on Saturday for their final road game of the year.