Mustangs Fly Higher than Eagles

The George Mason High School Boys Varsity Soccer Team has waited all season to take a crack at district rival Clarke County Eagles on Moore Cadillac Field, and Tuesday the Mustangs capitalized, prevailing 2-1 and all but clinching the district regular season title.

Junior Josiah Larson and Senior Peter Hamill scored the Mustangs’ two markers within one minute of each other to clip the Eagles wings before they could get off the ground.

The Mustangs survived an early scare in the first half when the Eagles rang a penalty shot off the cross bar just six minutes into the match. When the two teams last met April 23 at Clarke County, a controversial penalty kick provided the Eagles’ only goal and led to a 1-1 tie. This time however the shot went high and the Mustang defense cleared the rebound safely away.

Mason drew first blood in the 13th minute when Larson harnessed a deflected throw-in by senior Peter Dittmar and slipped it past the Clarke goaltender to put the Mustangs up 1-0.

Scarcely a minute later Hamill reeled in a long diving header at midfield from Dittmar, dribbled around a defender and launched a shot into the back of the net, sending a supportive and vocal Mason crowd into a frenzy.

“That penalty kick was a big turning point,” Mason Head Coach Art Iwanicki said. “Especially when we came back and scored, that was a three goal swing.”

From that point on it was a battle of grit with the two rivals searching fervently for a hole in their opponent’s defense. Both squads refused to yield until Clarke broke up the shutout in the 37th minute. Fans and the Mustang coaching staff sweated out the final five minutes of play before the final whistle blew.

“Those are character building games,” Mason Head Coach Art Iwanicki said. “We have to give the Mason boys a lot of credit. They showed a lot of pride and guts. Not everyone out there had their best game, but we had some sophomores who really grew up and matured.”

Senior Alex Fatovic made 13 saves in goal for the Mustangs, including a sliding save to take the ball off the foot of a Clarke player and halt a breakaway. Freshman Herberth Garcia played what Mason Assistant Coach Frank Spinello described as a “monstrous game” at right back, sealing off the Mason penalty area from the Clarke attack.

While tempers were held in check in this contest, each match seems to add a new chapter to the Mason/Clarke rivalry and this game proved no different as the Eagles claimed that they left their orange "away" jerseys at home, but after Mason sent players to retrieve pinnies for Clarke to wear, the Eagles calmly donned the orange jerseys they insisted they left at school.

The victory leaves the Mustangs needing either a win or two ties in their final two games against Madison County and Rappahannock to clinch the district. Mason has previously defeated both teams. Clarke County is currently in second place.

Dittmar, Hamill and Fatovic were honored before the game along with fellow seniors Sayed Abushark, Andrew Montgomery, and Brian and Sean O'Connor.

With the two assists, Dittmar broke the Mason single season record for assists with 16, many of those coming off his mighty sideline heaves that seem to reach nearly 40 yards in distance.