Men’s soccer (2-7-1, 0-2-0 Atlantic 10) fell to division rival George Mason (8-1-0, 2-0-0 A-10) in a 5-2 rout Saturday in Fairfax, suffering their first loss against the Patriots since 2019.
Coming into the game, the Revolutionaries were placed 13th in their conference, only ahead of Saint Joseph’s, with GW’s most recent win Sept. 10 against Navy. The team has struggled so far, with seven losses in the season thus far.
GW has allowed 2.70 goals per game this season, the highest in the A-10 by .70.
After a half-hour of play, the Revolutionaries struck first. Freshman midfielder Finn Roberts sent in a cross from a free kick, and graduate student midfielder Carter Humm headed it to the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
But a couple of minutes later, the Revs gave up a costly foul inside the box from sophomore defender Colin Pendergast that saw him booked. The Patriots converted their penalty as a result, with forward Marek Gonda going on the scoresheet for his second goal of the season. Just before halftime struck, graduate student midfielder Henry Washmann would double the score for the Patriots with an assist from sophomore midfielder James Eliuda.
After the break, the Revs pushed forward and answered back after about 20 minutes from the restart, with a strike from sophomore forward Jaden Dubon for his first goal of the season. At that point, it was poised to be a back-and forth-match, but the Revs’ defensive formation faltered and the Patriots answered with three goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, including a brace from midfielder Quentin Clain in the 76th and 83rd minute, respectively.
The Revs were outshot in the match, managing seven shots with two on goal. The Patriots managed to get 27 shots, with 10 on target.
With 10 games played, the Revs have managed nine goals on 114 shots but have conceded 27 on 147 shots, ranking dead last in goals allowed. About a week before the loss, freshman forward Louis Crofts said the team needs to maintain focus amidst its struggles.
“Defensively, it’s been difficult,” Crofts said. “We’ve also got to create more chances as well. In terms of defensively, though, a lot of it was individual errors, and that’s going to happen in football”
Crofts said the team has managed to stay together after tough losses and looks to build on successes they find in games.
“It’s just how we react from those [mistakes],” Crofts said. “I think sometimes we let it sort of landslide, and then we can see it again. So we’ve just got to keep going.”
The Revs will take a trip to Ohio to face Dayton (4-1-2, 0-0-1 A-10) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
