George Mason blanks Pennsylvania

From 1982-90, the George Mason University men’s soccer program established itself as one of the best in the nation with seven NCAA Tournament appearances over nine seasons.
Lean times, however, came to Fairfax over the last 18 years, with Friday night’s NCAA first-round contest with Pennsylvania only the third trip to the postseason for the Patriots in that span. But with a 1-0 victory over the Quakers, it appears fourth-year head coach Greg Andrulis has Mason back on track.
The victory was the eighth in a row for George Mason (14-6-2), which advanced to meet No. 2 national seed Maryland (18-3) on Tuesday in College Park. The loss ended a five-game unbeaten streak for Penn (11-3-4), the Ivy League champions.
Andrulis guided the Patriots to their first Colonial Athletic Association title since 1989 last weekend, earning the program’s 10th NCAA Tournament berth. The last NCAA first-round victory for George Mason came in 1996, when legendary coach Gordon Bradley led the visiting Patriots to a 1-0 victory over perennial national power Virginia.
With two NCAA berths in the past three seasons, Andrulis believes Mason, ranked 18th in the nation by Soccer America, is on the right track.
“We are all very aware of the history of this program under Coach Bradley and Coach [Richard] Broad,” Andrulis said. “The history here is strong, and we’ve tried to build a close relationship with the alumni. I think we have things headed in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go to reach the level of those teams.”
Friday’s victory is a good way to start. After a scoreless first half, George Mason got on the scoreboard shortly after intermission. In the 47th minute, Eber Martinez (Gar-Field High School) took a pass from Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe and sent a 20-yard drive into the upper-left corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
“At halftime, Coach [Andrulis] talked about coming out strong,” Martinez said. “We were a little slow starting off the game, and he wanted us to pick up the intensity. Kwame gave me an excellent ball, I took one guy and just ripped it into the corner.”
“You had two teams come into the game tonight feeling good about themselves,” Penn head coach Rudy Fuller said. “When you get that, something special usually decides it. Martinez hit a great shot, and there is no keeper anywhere likely to stop that.”
Penn picked up its intensity after the Mason goal and had the better of play in the second half, outshooting the Patriots 6-2. But the Mason defense, led by junior Richard Edgar and senior Michael Vallie, repeatedly thwarted Quaker attacks. In addition, junior goalkeeper Sean Kelley made a pair of big saves over the last 10 minutes, including a point-blank stop off the foot of Quaker senior Kevin Unger with less than two minutes to play.
“I’ve gotten used to teams throwing everything at us late in games,” Kelley said. “The defense has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. We’re all on the same page, especially lately. I just try to keep my composure and the other guys help make my job easy.”
Both teams had excellent opportunities to get on the scoreboard in the first half. In the 28th minute, Penn was awarded a penalty kick after a George Mason defender was whistled for a handball in the penalty area.
Quakers leading scorer Omid Shokoufandeh’s shot toward the lower-left corner of the goal, but Kelley (five saves for the game) made a diving stop.
“Our assistant coach [Nick Carlin-Voigt] gave me a good scouting report on them before the game,” Kelley said. “I don’t always like knowing, because it can screw you up if they go the other way. But I got a good jump and made the save.”
Mason got its chance on a penalty kick of its own five minutes later.
Sophomore Irvin Martinez (Gar-Field) hit the ball well, but Penn senior goalkeeper Drew Healy made an excellent diving save to his left to keep the game scoreless.