Box score (PDF)
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's soccer team rallied from three goals down to tie the game but dropped its season opener, 4-3, to UMBC on Thursday night at George Mason Stadium.
 
Mason (0-1-0) fell behind UMBC (1-0-0) in the 19th minute of play.  Retrievers senior forward Alek Wroblewski scored the first goal of the match with a header.  Junior forward Spencer Hanks and senior midfielder Jago Lott picked up the assists.
 
The Retrievers then scored twice in a span of 25 seconds in the 22nd minute.
 
Senior forward Taylor Calheira, who was named the 2022 America East Striker of the Year after scoring 11 goals last season, scored off a free kick from inside the six to make if a 2-0 game.  Senior midfielder William Forby had the lone assist.
 
Calheira struck again to expand the Retrievers lead to 3-0 when he collected a rebound and put a shot just inside the right post from five yards out.  Lott recorded his second assist of the match on the goal.
 
Mason began the comeback in the 27th minute when sophomore midfielder Nicolas Prioli netted his first collegiate goal.  He blistered a shot from 18 yards out into the lower left corner of the net to cut the lead to 3-1. 
 
Mason graduate student midfielder Luis Maestre picked up his first assist as a Patriot on the play.  He would end the night with an assist on each of Mason's three goals.
 
In the 60th minute the Patriots made it a one-goal game.
 
Just minutes after entering the match in the second half, Mason freshman forward Abdul Kamara scored his first NCAA goal in the 60th minute when he lifted a shot past the goalkeeper and inside the left post.
 
Less than two minutes later, Mason senior midfielder Henry Wachsman tallied the equalizer in the 62nd minute when he scored from just outside the penalty area to even the score 3-3.
 
Just seconds later in the 62nd minute, Calheira was taken down inside the penalty area.  He scored the game-winning goal to complete the hat trick when he found the lower left corner of the net.
 
Mason junior goalkeeper Jaume Salvado (0-1-0) made three saves, while UMBC senior goalkeeper Jailon Gillespie made one save in the match.
 
HOW THEY SCORED
 
19' | Wroblewski converted with a header into the upper left corner from 18 yards out.
22' | Calheira scored off a free kick into the lower center of the net from inside the six.
22' | Calheira collected a rebound and scored inside the right post from five yards out.
27' | Prioli put a low shot inside the left post from 18 yards out.
60' | Kamara scored inside the left post from 20 yards out.
62' | Wachsman scored inside the right post from just outside the 18.
62' | Calheira converted on a penalty kick into the lower left corner.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Retrievers outshot the Patriots, 14-9, including a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.  UMBC finished with five corner kicks, while Mason had two corner kicks in the match.
 
Calheira led all players with eight shots and five shots on goal.  Wachsman led the Patriots with three shots and two shots on goal.
 
Freshmen midfielders Brent Fields and Giovanni Sanna-Lenzi, defender David Garcia and forward Davis Crittenden and Kamara each made their NCAA debut.
 
Graduate student midfielder Luis Maestre, sophomore defender Levi Stephens and midfielders Erick Kilosho and Asparuh Slavov, junior defender Javi Sanchez, forward Souley Diouf and goalkeeper Jaume Salvado each made their Mason debut.
 
NEXT FOR MASON
 
The Patriots play their first road match of the season against Virginia with the opening kick schooled for 8 p.m. at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.