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George Mason men beat ODU 3-1; clinch spot in CAA Championship

7 Nov, 2008

The George Mason men’s soccer team entered its final match of the regular season against Old Dominion on Friday evening needing either a win or a tie to assure itself a spot in the 2008 CAA Men’s Soccer Championship. When the final seconds ticked off the clock 90 minutes later, the Patriots had left no doubt that they deserved one of the six spots in the tournament, taking a 3-1 victory over a Monarch squad that entered the evening in a three-way tie for second place in the standings.

With the win, Mason clinches the third seed in next week’s CAA Men’s Soccer Championship tournament.

In the 35th minute, freshman midfielder Ryan Gracia put the Patriots on top with the first goal of the match. Gracia took his defender one-on-one for the score, which was his fourth goal of the season and second in conference play. Mason took that lead into the half and entered the intermission with a 6-3 advantage in shots taken and 4-0 advantage in corner kicks.

After the break, the Patriots wasted little time adding to their lead. Just 5:35 into the half, freshman forward Axel Levry found senior forward Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe open for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Adjeman-Pamboe, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, has been on a roll recently, scoring four goals and tallying two assists in the past four matches, all Patriot wins.

George Mason took a 3-0 lead in the 57th minute, when junior midfielder Richard Edgar gained control of a deflected ball and found the back of the net past Old Dominion goalkeeper Brennan Kirkpatrick. The goal was Edgar’s first of the 2008 season.

The Patriot defense played exceptionally well all night long and nearly earned its fourth consecutive shutout to close the season. With only 1:02 remaining, the Monarchs’ Trevor Banks snuck one past Mason goalkeeper Sean Kelley to end the Patriots’ shutout bid. Kelley recorded three saves in 90 minutes in goal.

The win completed a remarkable turnaround for the Patriots, who leapt from a tie for ninth place in the conference standings with only three matches remaining in the regular season to the third seed in the conference tournament. At the time, the schedule didn’t appear favorable as Mason had to play the top three teams in the standings to close the regular season. However, the Patriots played their best soccer of the season during the stretch, ending third-place Drexel’s seven-match unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win on Oct. 29 and snapping first-place UNCW’s five-match winning streak with a 1-0 shutout on Nov. 1 before Friday's win over second-place Old Dominion.

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