Box Score

*Kayla Hamric scored her first NCAA goal
*Amanda Nhek scored her first NCAA goal
*Emily Littell had a goal and three assists

FAIRFAX, Va. – Freshman Kayla Hamric scored the game-winning goal in the second half, propelling the Patriots to a 4-3 victory over Revolutionary Rival George Washington in the Atlantic 10 opener on Thursday evening at George Mason Stadium.

Mason (4-6-0, 1-0-0 A-10) has won four straight games, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 14-5.

The Patriots erased three one-goal deficits in the first half of play, setting the stage for Hamric to score her first NCAA goal.

"She's been a real bright spot for us out of that talented freshman class," Mason head coach Todd Bramble said.  "She's played a lot of quality minutes for us this season.  What a great first goal to get and what a great time to get it."

With the score even at three, Hamric found the back of the net in the 71st minute when she blistered a shot past the leaping George Washington goalkeeper and into the upper left corner from 35 yards out.

"I was just dribbling and everyone was saying Kayla make a decision," Hamric said.  "I looked up and saw the goal open up, so I took a shot.  There's no way I could have done it without my team there.  They brought us this far through the game and they supported me to take that shot."

Hamric is the fourth Patriot to score her first career goal this season.

"I was really excited," Hamric said.  "It was my first goal as a freshman at George Mason and it was our first conference game.  And the winning goal, you can imagine my excitement."

The two teams combined to score four goals in a span of seven minutes early in the first half.

George Washington (5-3-1, 0-1-0 A-10) took a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute of the game.  After the Colonials were called for a foul inside the box, junior Emily Littell scored her third goal of the season on the penalty kick to tie the game 1-1. 

"It was just a penalty kick, I almost slipped at the end but it went in," Littell said.  "We always say the start of A-10's is the second season.  We are starting off on the right note and we're excited to keep going."

The Colonials jumped back in front 2-1 in the 14th minute, but again Mason had an answer.  Exactly a minute later, senior Abby Downey evened the score 2-2 with her first goal of the season. 

With just over a minute remaining in the first half and Mason down by the score of 3-2, freshman Amanda Nhek worked past the Colonials defense and scored her first collegiate goal to make it a 3-3 game.

"Amanda has been coming on strong," Bramble said.  "She's been growing with each passing game and this was clearly her best performance.  I'm happy to see her get rewarded with a great goal.  In the first half we had to come from behind three times and I thought our team showed a lot of character in getting that done tonight.  Amanda was a big part of that."

Nhek has recorded one goal and two assists over the last three games.

"Our offense came to life tonight," said Bramble of the four-goal explosion.  "We have a good balance in our attack and we're not just relying on any one individual to get it done.  We're really attacking well as a team right now."

The Patriots finished with a 15-9 advantage in shots, while both teams registered seven shots on goal.  Mason had nine corner kicks and George Washington had three.  Each of the last eight meetings between the two teams has been decided by a single goal.

Littell finished with a goal and three assists in the contest.  She has scored three goals and added four assists during Mason's four-game winning streak.

When asked if he had ever coached a player that had a hand in all of his team's goals in a game, Bramble was quick to answer. 

"Maybe in a two-goal game or a three-goal game, but definitely not in a four-goal game."

The Patriots are back in action on Sunday, traveling to face the defending Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament champion Dayton Flyers.  The kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Baujan Field in Dayton, Ohio.