The American University men's soccer team fell 1-0 to George Mason on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought, physical match at Reeves Field. With the win, the Patriots claim the D.C. College Cup, denying the Eagles their sixth College Cup title in the 10-year history of the annual tournament.
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American (1-1) had arguably its best scoring opportunity of the match in the 13th minute off the foot of sophomore Alassane Kane. The play was setup off a beautiful header by freshman Colin Seigfreid, who gave Kane a breakaway opportunity with George Mason goalkeeper Sean Cote. Cote, however, was up to the challenge, as he came out and blocked Kane's shot.
George Mason (2-0) scored the match's lone goal in the 24th minute, as D.C. College Cup Most Valuable Player Parker Walton slipped a header past AU goalkeeper Matt Makowski. The cross to Walton came from Brent Brockman.
The Eagles had another good scoring chance off a corner kick from Jamie Davin to the head of Eli Dennis just in front of the goal, which came late in the first half. Cote was again up to the challenge, and the rebound header by American junior Mike Marino sailed wide.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, American pushed up the intensity on the offensive end, and as a result, led to a few counterattack opportunities for the Patriots. In the 60th minute, GMU's Eber Martinez had what appeared to be a sure-fire goal, although AU defender Alex Tilatti was in the right place just in front of the goal to make a tremendous defensive save.
Later in the half, George Mason's Taylor Morgan took another counterattack opportunity and had a one-on-one with Makowski in the open field. AU's netminder Makowski came out of goal, and made a superb lunging save to keep only a one-goal deficit.
AU applied the pressure in the match's final few minutes, as Jack Scott, Ryan Morales and Christobal Soto each fired shots in the final 1:13. The Eagles, however, came up empty, giving George Mason the 1-0 victory and the 2010 D.C. College Cup Championship.
On the stat sheet, the match was relatively-evenly played with George Mason holding a 14-12 advantage in shots, including a 7-4 margin in shots on goal. Each team earned four corner kick.
"It's so hard to create chances, especially against a good, athletic, organized team," remarked Head Coach Todd West following the match. "I thought it was a pretty even game. It comes down to one play. A lot of people think that's a top 20 team. If that's a top 20 team, then I think we're pretty close."
American placed three student-athletes – Dennis, Kane and Tilatti – on the D.C. College Cup All-Tournament Team.
The Eagles will be back in action on Friday, September 10 at Princeton. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
D.C. College Cup All-Tournament Team
Fro Adu, George Mason, D/M, Sr.
Andrew Aluko, George Washington, M/D, Fr.
Yoni Berhanu, George Washington, F, Jr.
Eli Dennis, American, M, Fr.
Jamil Devers, Howard, M, Sr.
Alassane Kane, American, F, So.
Mario Martin, Howard, F, Fr.
Eber Martinez, George Mason, M, Jr.
Alex Tilatti, American, D, Jr.
Parker Walton, George Mason, F, Sr.
Eric Zuehsow, George Mason, D, Jr.
D.C. College Cup MVP
Parker Walton, George Mason, F, Sr.
