WASHINGTON – A goal in the waning minutes was not enough for the George Mason men's soccer team in its season opener.

Daniel Hoffmann scored in the 89th minute but the Patriots couldn't muster an equalizer in the final 87 seconds, suffering a 2-1 loss to American on Friday afternoon in the Kuykenstrong D.C. College Cup at Reeves Field.

Two-first half goals, the second coming 13 seconds before halftime, by the Eagles proved to be the difference. Mason (0-1) showed more life in the second half, recording nine shots after the break, but didn't score until its final chance.  

“We weren't competitive enough in the first half in most of the facets of the game,” head coach Greg Andrulis said. “The (American) goalkeeper (Lucas Belanger) was very good for them tonight. We had six breakaways tonight and we came up with nothing out of the six. You have to tip your hat to him. But defensively we were too easy to play through. So we've got to sort out some things and make sure we get the right group of guys together.”

American, picked to win the Patriot League after winning 14 games last year, broke a scoreless tie in the 27th minute.

From 16 yards out, Joe Iraola bent in a shot that just curved inside the far post, past a diving Mason goalkeeper Steffen Kraus. The Eagles added a second goal with 13 seconds remaining in the first half. Off a cross into the box, American's Garrett Muzikowski tapped in a close-range goal in the back right corner. 

“AU came out guns blazing,” Andrulis said. “They are a very veteran team. They have their system in place. We are a bit of a team in progress and building something here. The table was tilted toward us for most of the first half. Giving up that second goal kind of breaks your back going into the second half. Then the hill was very high. Kudos to the guys. They got a goal back. But it is hard at this level to play as poorly as we did in the first half and expect to get a result against a good, quality team like AU.”
 
The Patriots generated several chances in the second half but American goalkeeper Lucas Belanger had answers almost every time. Belanger made five of his six saves in the second half. He stopped three on one breakaway alone by Mason freshman Tunde Akinlosotu. Henning Dirks had three shots in the second half, with two stopped by Belanger. Hoffman had a header that just went wide left of the goal.

Hoffmann finally broke through with 1:27 remaining on a through ball from Dirks. Hoffmann fired a shot from the left side that bounced past Belanger. The Patriots then hurried to try to tie the game. But both of goalkeeper's Steffen Kraus' long free kicks, the first after an American yellow card, were stymied by the Eagles' defense.

“We got together at halftime and came out fighting in the second half,” Hoffmann said. “At the end of the day, I think we had enough chances there to tie the game. But, obviously, it is hard to come back with only one minute left after (cutting it to) 2-1. We have to forget about the first half, take away the good things from the second half and get ready for Wednesday.”

Mason finished with 10 shots as nine came after halftime. Kraus, a senior captain, made nine saves, including six in the first half. The Patriots used 20 players - 19 before halftime - as nine newcomers (six freshmen and three transfers) made their Mason debuts.

The Patriots will try to bounce back next week when they hit the road to play East Tennessee State on Wednesday in Johnson City, Tennessee.