*Gabriela Rivera scored late in the second half
*Rebecca Callison recorded an assist
*Morgan Symmers earned the win in goal

Box score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Mason graduate student Gabriela Rivera scored with a header off of a corner kick in the 83rd minute, lifting the Patriots to a 1-0 victory over East Tennessee State in the season opener on Thursday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.

Rivera, who started in her Mason debut, converted on a set piece off a corner kick by senior Rebecca Callison to put the Patriots in front.

"We kind of felt it coming at that point," Mason head coach Todd Bramble said.  "The fact that we had so many corner kicks in the game was indicative of the territory and the area of the field that we spent a lot of time in tonight, in and around their penalty area.  We had a lot of momentum on our side when we earned that corner kick.  Rebecca deserves a lot of credit, she delivered a really good ball into the penalty area and Gabby's timing was perfect.  She rose up above the defender and got her head on it and it was a timely goal for us."

Mason (1-0-0) and ETSU (0-1-0) played a defensive first half, with the Patriots holding a 4-0 advantage in shots.  Sophomore Emily Bradshaw registered the lone shot on goal in the first half of play.

The Patriots continued to play solid defense in the second half and nearly took the lead in the 52nd minute.

Sophomore Kayla Hamric set up the play with a corner kick and redshirt freshman Olivia Reese, playing her first NCAA game, made a bid for her first career tally.  Buccaneers senior goalkeeper Lea Ann Cutshall turned the Patriots away with a diving save just before the ball crossed the goal line.

The Buccaneers had a chance to score the equalizer with less than three minutes to play, but senior Fiona Dodge hit the post from 30 yards out.

Bradshaw led all players with four shots and recorded two shots on goal, while Reese also had two shots on goal for the Patriots. 

Six players made their debut for Mason.  Freshman Lena Wicker started and played all 90 minutes and classmate Dacheka Kolcum played 53 minutes with one shot on goal.  Sophomore Sara Chontosh logged 31 minutes with one shot, while graduate student Jewel Christian played 45 minutes.

"For the first game out we were really sharp in our possession," Bramble said.  "We generated some really good attacks from a variety of different areas of the field.  East Tennessee is a dangerous counter-attacking team and I thought we managed that part of the game well."

The Patriots finished with an 11-4 advantage in shots, including 7-1 in shots on goal.  Mason had seven corner kicks and ETSU had one.

Mason redshirt junior goalkeeper Morgan Symmers (1-0-0) made one save and earned her second career shutout, while Cutshall made six saves for the Buccaneers.

Mason improved to 3-0-0 all-time against ETSU.

"This result will give us some confidence," Bramble added.  "We still have a lot of areas to sharpen up and a lot of ways we can continue to improve as a team.  I think our players are hungry to do that.  We're going into a place that I'm personally familiar with from being in the SEC.  Tennessee has an excellent facility and a great fan base and I think our players are going to really enjoy the environment."

The Patriots continue their road trip on Sunday when they face Tennessee with the opening kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Regal Soccer Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.