WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. VCU
Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship Quarterfinal
WHEN:  Sunday, Oct. 29, 1:00 p.m.
WHERE:  Fairfax, Va. | George Mason Stadium | Weather
RECORDS:  Mason (9-8-2, 6-2-2 A-10); VCU (9-5-3, 5-3-2 A-10)
SERIES RECORD:  Mason leads, 14-6-6
LAST MEETING:  The Patriots defeated the Rams 1-0 on Oct. 8 in Fairfax, Va.
COVERAGE:  A-10 Network ($) | Live stats | Tournament Central

TICKETS:  George Mason students receive free admission with a valid Mason student ID.  Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for faculty, staff, children under 13 and senior citizens.  Tickets go on sale one hour before the game.  All sales are cash only.
FREE MEAL DEAL FOR MASON STUDENTS:  Mason students with valid Mason ID will receive a voucher for a hot dog, bag of potato chips and a Coke product.

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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's soccer team enters the 2017 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Tournament as the third seed, hosting six-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University in a quarterfinal matchup at 1 p.m. on Sunday at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va.

Mason (9-8-2, 6-2-2 A-10) erased a two-goal deficit, scoring three unanswered goals in a span of 3:56 late in the second half in a 3-2 victory over Rhode Island on Sunday in the final game of the regular season in Kingston, R.I. 

Junior forwards Emily Littell and Erin Mitchell, along with freshman forward Amanda Nhek each found the back of the net in the win, with Mitchell notching the game-winning goal.

Mason finished 6-2-2 with a program-record 20 points in Atlantic 10 Conference play.  Since Sept. 10, the Patriots have an overall record of 9-2-2 in their last 13 games.

"I'm really proud of the team and happy for the players that they've put themselves in this position," Mason head coach Todd Bramble said.  "It's our third consecutive conference tournament, but those have been at neutral sites.  To be able to play an A-10 quarterfinal game here on our home field is going to be something really special."

The Patriots went 6-0-1 in their final seven home games, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 19-7 with three shutouts.  Mason finished the regular season unbeaten at home against A-10 opponents with a 4-0-1 record at George Mason Stadium, with victories over George Washington, Richmond, VCU and Massachusetts.

After dropping their first six games of the season, the Patriots enter the A-10 Tournament as the third seed, the highest for Mason since joining the conference.

"From the beginning we thought we had a team that was good enough to get that done and we wanted to challenge them with that," Bramble added.  "To let them know that it would be worthwhile to be able to have this experience if we could have a good enough conference season to finish in the top four.  Maybe when the times were really tough and we had to grind out some results, if this was something that was in the front of the players' minds during those moments, it really helped us."

This will be the second meeting between the Patriots and Rams this season. 

Mason earned a 1-0 home victory over VCU on Oct. 8.  Mitchell, who has scored three goals in the last two meetings against the Rams, tallied the lone goal of the match in the 55th minute of play.  Freshman goaltender Louisa Moser made three saves in the contest to record her second shutout of the season.

The Rams outshot the Patriots 11-8, but Mason finished with a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal.  The Rams had nine corner kicks and the Patriots had five.

"This game is probably going to play out a lot like the first one did, where it's going to be really close," Bramble said of Mason's second meeting against the Rams in three weeks.  "They have good players on their back line, are solid in the center of the midfield and they have dynamic players out wide who are hard to deal with."

Junior forward Emily Littell is tied for the team lead in goals (4) and paces the Patriots in assists (6) and points (14), all career-highs.  Among A-10 leaders, she is tied for fourth in assists (6) and tied for ninth in points (14).

Junior forward Rebecca Callison is tied for the team lead with a career-high four goals and is third on the squad with a career-best 10 points.

Mitchell is tied for first on the team in goals (4) and tied for second in points (11).  She ranks third in the Atlantic 10 in game-winning goals (3) and is fifth in the conference in shots (50). 

Freshman forward Amanda Nhek is second on the team in assists (5) and tied for second in both goals (3) and points (11).  Nhek's five assists are tied for the fifth-most in the conference.  Freshman midfielder Kayla Hamric is seventh in the A-10 in shots (45).

The Patriots are tied for third in the Atlantic 10 in goals (31), second in shots (302) and third in shots per game (15.9).  Mason has taken the second-most corner kicks in the conference (136). 

Mason has had 14 players record a goal and 18 players register at least one point this season, while seven different players have scored a game-winning goal.  The Patriots have netted 21 of their 31 goals in the second half of play. 

The Patriots are 8-0-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game.

Moser (15 games/1281 minutes) has a 1.55 goals against average and has registered 52 saves.  She has posted a 5-2-2 overall record against Atlantic 10 opponents during her rookie season, including a mark of 3-0-1 at home.

Junior goalkeeper Morgan Symmers (7 games/505 minutes) has a 1.60 goals against average and has recorded 13 saves.

"Our players did a good job all season long keeping their focus on how we perform as a team, said Bramble.  "The training sessions that we've had the last few days have been excellent.  They're enjoying it and we're having a lot of fun being together right now.  We're a senior-laden team and I think our captains, Kaila Williams and Emily Littell do a really good job of keeping the players on task.  Kelsey Young and Abby Downey are leaders and there are a lot of people that are willing to step up and make sure the focus is where it needs to be this time of year."

SCOUTING VCU

The Rams finished the regular season with an overall record of 9-5-3 and went 5-3-2 in conference play with 17 points.  VCU is 5-0-3 at home and 4-5-0 on the road this season.

The Rams fell to A-10 regular-season champion La Salle 1-0 on Sunday.  VCU junior goalkeeper Audrey Sanderson made seven saves in the game.  The Rams have been held without a goal in three of their last four road matches.

VCU has scored 26 goals and surrendered 13 overall.  The Rams have outscored opponents 15-2 in the first half of play this season.

The Rams rank second in the Atlantic 10 in shots per game (17.3), third in total shots (294) and fifth in goals per game (1.5).

Junior forward Julia Suarez is tied for the team lead in both goals (4) and assists (3) and leads the squad in points (11).  Sophomore defender Amanda Tredway is tied for the team lead in goals (4) and is second in points (11).  Sophomore midfielder Alyssa Tallent is tied for third in the Atlantic 10 in game-winning goals (3).

Sanderson (17 games/1612 minutes) has played every minute in goal for VCU.  She ranks third in the A-10 in both goals against average (0.73) and fewest goals allowed (13) and is tied for second in the conference in shutouts (7).

CORNER KICK

Eight of the Atlantic 10 Conference's 14 teams qualified for the tournament, with the top four seeds earning a home game.  The winners in the quarterfinal round will advance to the A-10 Championship semifinal hosted by VCU on Nov. 3-5 at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Va.

For complete coverage of the 2017 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship, log on to Championship Central at Atlantic10.com.