Nov. 6, 2007

Box Score

Harrisonburg, Va. - The George Mason women's soccer team went on the road on Tuesday night, looking for an upset in the first round of the CAA Tournament as the sixth-seeded Patriots were playing at third-seeded James Madison. Unfortunately for Mason, the Patriots were unable to extend their season as the Dukes took a 2-1 win over Mason.

Mason (8-10-2) was in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2004 and they faced the same opponent this year as they did then. In 2004, JMU took a 1-0 win over the Patriots. Sarah Fack, Alison Feldman, Laura Salichs and Rachel Wiggins were freshmen on that team and L.J. Williams was a sophomore. For those five, along with Kasey Davenport, Tuesday's loss marked the end of their Patriot career.

It took awhile for both teams to get into the flow. The Dukes (16-3-1) had a scoring chance early with a corner kick while Mason had a direct kick from 35 yards several minutes later. Still, it wasn't until the 26th minute that either team managed a shot. Annie Lowry's shot on the goal resulted in a JMU corner kick. One minute later, Williams had a shot on goal that Stephanie Poucher stopped. At the end of the first half, Mason had three shots, two on goal, while JMU had one shot on goal.

It was the 60th minute that James Madison finally broke through. After Mason dominated much of the action early in the second stanza, the Dukes got possession in the midfield and Teresa Rynier went over top to Annie Lowry who finally put one past Mason keeper Davenport.

The Dukes very nearly took a 2-0 lead less than two minutes later. This time Lowry sent the ball over top to Corky Julien, but Davenport made a brilliant save, cutting the distance and stopping Julien's shot at the source.

James Madison did make it 2-0 in the 73rd minute. This time, Rynier played a ball deep on the left wing to Cate Tisinger. Tisinger's cross was deflected by Davenport and Megan Deaver collected it and put it in the net.

The Patriots pulled to within one in the 80th minute as Kelly Keelan, Mason's leader in goals, found herself deep on the left side. She crossed to Sasha Vido on the right side and she put the ball in the net for her second goal of the year. Mason was unable to get the equalizer in a dramatic final 10 minutes. The best chance came on a Jessica Paris shot from 20 yards out that went just high.