*Senior forward Nia Elbeck scored her fourth career game-winning goal.
*Freshman forward Emma van der Vorst scored her second goal in two games.
*Jewel Christian, Rebecca Callison and Gabriela Rivera each had an assist.

Box score

FAIRFAX, Va. – Mason senior forward Nia Elbeck scored the game-winning goal in the 57th minute, lifting the Patriots to a 2-1 victory over East Carolina on Sunday afternoon at George Mason Stadium.

Mason (3-2-0) fell behind for the fourth straight game.  ECU (3-1-2) junior forward Jenna Dages gave the Pirates an early lead when she collected a rebound off a cross into the Mason box in the 13th minute, scoring her fourth goal of the season to put ECU in front 1-0.

The Patriots responded quickly less than seven minutes later.

In the 20th minute, freshman forward Emma van der Vorst netted the equalizer off a perfect cross from Mason graduate student Gabriela Rivera.  The play was created by Mason graduate student Jewel Christian, who sent a pass ahead to Rivera down the left side of the field. 

Both Rivera and Christian each recorded their first Mason assist, while van der Vorst has scored a goal in each of the last two games.

Mason completed the comeback when senior forward Nia Elbeck scored in the 57th minute off a set piece to give the Patriots a 2-1 advantage.  Senior Rebecca Callison played a corner kick into the penalty area, where Elbeck sent a shot into the upper left corner of the Pirates net.

The Pirates nearly tied the game late in the second half, but freshman Addison Salz hit the crossbar with a shot from 20 yards out and the Mason defense held the lead the rest of the way.

Mason is 3-0-0 in games decided by one goal.  Three different Patriots have registered a game-winning goal, Rivera at ETSU (Aug. 16), Chontosh against Old Dominion (Aug. 30) and Elbeck against ECU.

The Patriots finished with a 15-10 advantage in shots, including 8-3 in shots on goal.  Mason had 9 corner kicks and ECU had just one.

Callison led all players with five shots and three shots on goal.  She notched her team-leading second assist of the season on the game-winning goal.

Mason redshirt-junior goalkeeper Morgan Symmers (3-1-0, 1.37) made two saves in the first half to earn the win.  ECU sophomore goalkeeper Melanie Stiles made six saves for the Pirates and suffered the loss.

Mason improved to 8-3-0 all-time against ECU, including a mark of 6-1-0 against the Pirates at George Mason Stadium.  ECU lost to an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent for the first time since the 2015 season.

The Patriots are back in action against James Madison on Thursday, with the kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at George Mason Stadium.