Patriots Fall to University of Virginia in Season Opener

Story by Broadside Staff Writer Tim Blank. Photos by Courtney Erland and Elizabeth Bioni.

After a hard-fought, rain-soaked game in front of a raucous crowd, University of Virginia freshman forward Brian Ownby scored the game-winning goal with 43 seconds left in the second overtime period to give Virginia a 3-2 victory over George Mason University in Mason’s season opener last Friday night.

Mason was aggressive throughout the game, jumping out to a 2-0 halftime lead with goals by senior forward Lucas Pardew with 7:28 remaining, and freshman midfielder Ryan Gracia with 3:44 remaining, both assisted by freshman forward Draymond Washington, with senior defender Hugh Fike assisting on the Garcia goal.

Early on in the second half though, Virginia started to warm up with a goal by freshman forward Chris Agorsor with 37:29 left in the second half, assisted by freshman defender Hunter Jumper. Despite a crucial defensive play with about 35 minutes left in the half that prevented a goal when Mason’s junior goalkeeper Sean Kelley was caught out of position, Virginia sophomore midfielder Jimmy Simpson tied the game at 2-2 with junior midfielder Jonathan Villanueva assisting with 13:28 left.

The game stayed tied through the end of regulation with some close calls including Kelley stopping a penalty kick with 7:25 left in regulation. Another critical play was an overshot of the net by Mason with 7:30 left in the second overtime, as well as an unclear play on whether or not Virginia’s sophomore goalkeeper Dan Louisignau rolled the ball over the goal line while making a save in regulation.

The aggressiveness of the game started pouring down as the rain did, with three Mason players and one Virginia player earning yellow cards. Eventually, the aggressive play of Virginia finally paid off with Villanueva assisting on the last-minute, game-winning goal.

The soccer team travels next weekend to play in the Mi Cocina Classic at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The Patriots will play SMU first in the Mi Cocina Classic on Sept. 12. So far the Mustangs are undefeated in the season, with a 3-0-0 record and are ranked no. 7 nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas College Soccer rankings. Leading in scoring for the Mustangs is senior forward Paulo da Silva with six points and two goals.

Sophomore goalkeeper Craig Hill has only given up one goal in the three games played so far. On Sept. 13, Mason will play in the second game against no. 18 ranked Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes are currently 2-0-1 with a win over Penn State in the school’s soccer classic on Sept. 5. Senior forward Eric DeFreitas leads the Golden Hurricanes in scoring with two goals. Both games will be played at SMU’s Wescott Field in Dallas, Texas, which, as with Mason’s soccer stadium, was used as a practice facility for International teams during the 1994 World Cup.