WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary men's soccer team dropped a hard-fought match to George Mason in the First Round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup. After 110 minutes and a 2-2 draw, the contest went into penalty kicks from which the Patriots prevailed in, for the win 4-2.
William and Mary concludes the 2013 season with a final record of 11-5-3, while George Mason, who advances to play New Mexico on Sunday, goes to 12-2-5. The match was played in front of a season-high crowd of 1,109.
The Tribe opened up the offensive attack to start the match, with a pair of shots in the second and eight minute. Both shots were taken by junior Chris Albiston, and both sailed just wide of the cage.
George Mason had a pair of chances in the 13th minute. Hugh Roberts headed a shot towards the frame, but the shot was blocked. The deflection went right back to Roberts, who headed it back towards goal, however the chance was saved by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mac Phillips.
The Patriots broke the scoreless tie in the 34th minute. Timi Mulgrew had an open look, but his first shot was blocked. The rebound came right back to his foot, and he directed into the right corner of the goal. The tally gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes later the Tribe responded and knotted the match 1-1. Off of a corner kick sent in by senior Chris Perez, the ball was deflected out of the box. The deflection, however, landed on the foot of senior Roshan Patel, who uncorked a shot into the right upper corner of the net. The tally, which came in the 36th minute, was the third of the season for Patel and tied the game 1-1.
Right before the half senior Ben Coffey had a pair of looks from just inside the penalty area. His first shot was saved by Mason goalkeeper Steffen Kraus, however the rebound came right back to Coffey. Again he tried a shot, but Kraus recovered in time to make the save.
At the break the game remained tied at 1-1. William and Mary did hold an 11-5 advantage in shots, including 6-2 advantage in shots on goal.
George Mason broke the tie again in the 72nd minute. Zach Herstek sent a feed to Wes Sever, who had space and took it. As Sever enter the box he took a shot and scored in the lower right corner of the goal. The score push Mason's lead to 2-1.
William and Mary didn't quit, and found the equalizer in the 79th minute of the match. Sophomore Jackson Eskay collected a loose ball and drove the box. From about 22 yards, the Urbana, Md. native fired a shot into the top left corner of the goal. The tally, which was Eskay's team-leading eighth of the season, tied the match 2-2.
Neither team found the game-winner in the final 11 minutes of the match, and the game headed for overtime.
The Tribe had the only shot fired in the first overtime period. In the 95th minute, freshman Reilly Maw was able to get a shot off, but it was saved by Kraus.
In the second overtime, the game opened up and each team had chances to find the game-winning goal. The Tribe's chance came first when Perez took a shot that was blocked. Mason had a pair of shots in the second overtime. Brice Colcombe fired a shot high in the 105th minute and Sever missed high as well in the 109th minute.
After the two overtimes, the match proceeded to penalty kicks. Mason won the best- of-five penalty kicks by a score of 4-2.
For the match, William and Mary outshot the Patriots 24-9, including a 10-4 advantage in shots on goal. Kraus made eight saves for George Mason.
Stay tuned to TribeAthletics.com for all updates on the Tribe men's soccer program.
