George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Massachusetts
Men's Soccer Shut Out at Massachusetts, 2-0
10/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2008
AMHERST, MA - The George Washington men's soccer team's high-powered offense was held scoreless for just the second time this season and Massachusetts' two first-half goals stood up over the final 45 minutes as the Colonials dropped a 2-0 decision to the Minutemen in Atlantic 10 Conference action at UM's Rudd Field Sunday afternoon.
GW (6-5-3, 2-2-2 A-10), which entered this weekend's matches with the nation's sixth-best scoring offense (2.33 goals per game), managed just eight shots - one on target - against defending Atlantic 10 champion Massachusetts (5-6-3, 3-1-1 A-10).
The loss drops the Colonials into a tie for sixth in the A-10 standings - along with Rhode Island - with eight points. The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the A-10 Championship, which will be held at Duquesne's Rooney Field Nov. 13-16.
GW had the match's first scoring opportunity in the 13th minute, when NCAA Division I leading scorer Andy Stadler sent a cross past UMass goalkeeper Zack Simmons to freshman Yoni Berhanu, but Berhanu's shot struck the post.
The Minutemen took advantage of GW's missed opportunity and netted the game-winning goal less than three minutes later on Stuart Thomson's corner-kick header in the 16th minute. Thomson raced onto Ben Arikian's near-post corner kick and redirected it to the far right corner for the decisive tally.
UMass, which is unbeaten in its last four matches, added an insurance goal late in the first half, with Prince Ofosu netting his team-leading fourth goal of the season via assists from Bryan Hogan and Chris Vaccaro in the 43rd minute. The Minutemen, who advanced to the NCAA College Cup after winning last year's league championship, moved into second place in the A-10 with the victory.
GW redshirt senior goalkeeper Matt Scheer finished with two saves on 14 shots faced. Simmons made just one save, coming on junior Erick Perez-Segnini's shot in the 73rd minute. UMass also held a 9-1 edge in corner kicks.
The Colonials play their final road match of the regular season Saturday, Nov. 1, at Richmond. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
