WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. Fordham
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 30, 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: George Mason (12-6-0, 6-3-0 A-10); Fordham (10-4-4, 5-1-3 A-10)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads 2-0-2
LAST MEETING: The Rams defeated the Patriots in a penalty kick shootout on Nov. 6, 2015 in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Davidson, N.C.
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's soccer team plays its final game of the regular season on Sunday, hosting Fordham with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. on Senior Day at George Mason Stadium.
Mason (12-6-0, 6-3-0 A-10) had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 4-0 loss at La Salle on Thursday. The Explorers scored two goals in each half and outshot the Patriots 22-4, including a 9-2 shots on goal advantage.
The Patriots finished the regular season with a record of 5-3 on the road. Mason's five road victories are tied for the third-most in program history and are the most that the Patriots have recorded on the road since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Mason's 12 victories this season are the most for the program since the Patriot's finished with a 14-4-1 record in 2009. With a conference record of 6-3-0, the Patriots have more wins against Atlantic 10 foes than in any of their first three years in the conference.
The Patriots and the Rams enter Sunday's game tied in the conference standings with 18 points, one point behind Duquesne for third place and two points behind Saint Louis for second place in the A-10.
Mason will honor its eight seniors in a pregame ceremony before the match against Fordham.
"The mood has been upbeat and there's going to be a lot of emotion going into the game," Mason head coach Todd Bramble said. "We're going to do the best that we can as a staff and players to honor these seniors the way that they deserve. Hopefully our performance on the field is reflective of how much we appreciate the contributions that they have made to this program and the university."
Seniors (pictured from left to right) Nicolette Herdegen, Kylie Shultz, Alex Myers, Sarah Hardison, Kirsten Glad, Gabrielle Cook, Anna Ludwick and Brenna Connell will step on the field one last time for the Green and Gold at George Mason Stadium.
"As a coaching staff you always want to have good team chemistry," Bramble said. "It's really up to the players on the team to make it happen and it's a credit to our seniors that our team chemistry has been so good this season. That's had a lot to do with some of the games that we've won."
The Patriots have held opponents scoreless in the first 45 minutes in 13 of their 18 games this season.
Mason is 9-0 this season when scoring the first goal of the game. The Patriots are 7-1 in games decided by one goal.
The Patriots have scored 33 goals this season, third-most in the Atlantic 10 behind Saint Joseph's (43) and Richmond (36). Mason has outscored opponents 13-10 in the first half and 18-16 in the second half this season.
The Patriots have had 10 players score at least one goal this season, with seven players scoring at least two goals. Hardison leads the team and ranks eighth in the Atlantic 10 with eight goals. Junior Erin Mitchell is second on the team and ranks ninth in the conference with seven goals. Hardison paced the Patriots with 10 goals during the 2015 season.
Myers has found the back of the net four times, while junior Abby Downey and sophomore Nia Elbeck have each netted three goals.
Five of Hardison's goals have been the first goal of the game for Mason and four have been game-winners. Her four game-winners are tied for second among Atlantic 10 players. Mitchell has scored three game-deciding goals, while Downey has netted two game-winners. Seven players overall have notched a game-winner for Mason during the 2016 campaign.
Junior Jenna Hamilton, sophomore Emily Littell and Herdegen have each found the back of the net twice this season.
Freshman Hugrun Olafsdottir leads the team and is tied for second in the Atlantic 10 with six assists. Junior Kaila Williams and Elbeck are tied for second on the team and are tied for the third-most in the conference with five assists each.
The Patriots enter the game against the Rams with a 7-3-0 record at George Mason Stadium this season. The seven home victories are the most for Mason since the 2011 season and are tied for the fifth-most in program history.
"Our preparation for the game has been no different, we have stuck to our routine" said Bramble of the importance of the matchup against Fordham. "It's really important that we set the tone for how we want to compete going into the tournament next week. A big focus is to protect our home field. We've been a good Sunday team this year and that's not easy to do. I'm really proud of how the players have performed on Sunday and we hope that we can keep that going."
The Patriots have a 3-1-0 record in Sunday games at George Mason Stadium this season.
The Patriots and Rams are meeting for the fifth time, with Mason leading the all-time series against Fordham 2-0-2. Sunday's meeting could determine seeding for the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Last season, the Patriot's clinched a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in the final game of the regular season with a 1-1 draw against the Rams at Jack Coffey Field in Bronx, N.Y. After a scoreless first half, Myers put Mason in front 1-0 just 20 seconds into the second half. Fordham tied the game with just 25 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
The Rams outshot the Patriots 18-4, including a 9-3 shots on goal advantage. Glad made eight saves in the game.
The teams met again in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Hardison scored on a header in the 38th minute to put the Patriots in front, but the Rams tied the game 1-1 with a goal in the 59th minute. Neither team found the back of the net in overtime and Fordham went on to win the game in a penalty kick shootout (4-2) to advance to the A-10 championship game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Fordham (10-4-4, 5-1-3 A-10) secured a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 1-0 win over Davidson on Thursday. Sophomore Brooke Salmon scored the lone goal of the match in the tenth minute of play. The Wildcats outshot the Rams 10-6 in the game, including a 6-3 shots on goal advantage.
Since a two-game losing streak in mid-September to end non-conference play, the Rams have a record of 5-1-3 against conference opponents, with the lone loss a 1-0 defeat at Saint Louis on Oct. 13.
Defensively, the Rams have surrendered one goal or less in 15 of their 18 games this season, including each of their last nine matches. Fordham has only allowed 16 goals this season, the fourth-fewest in the conference.
Fordham has outscored opponents 13-8 in the first half and 10-8 in the final 45 minutes of regulation. The Rams have had eight of their last nine games decided by one goal or end in a draw.
Senior Nicol Natale and Salmon are tied for the team lead with four goals each. In goal, senior Megan Fitzgerald (6-2-3, 5-1-2 A-10) has made 33 saves and allowed just nine goals over 11 appearances. She owns a 0.76 goals against average, third-best in the Atlantic 10.
Fordham finished with an overall record of 13-7-2 and went 6-3-1 in conference play last season, with the lone tie in A-10 play the 1-1 decision against the Patriots. In the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season, Fordham defeated VCU in the quarterfinals before facing Mason in the second round in Davidson, N.C. The Patriots and Rams were tied 1-1 before Fordham won the game in a penalty kick shootout to advance to the A-10 championship game.
