by Matt Delaney
Back-to-back 8-0 routs over Madison County High School and Central High School puts George Mason’s varsity girls soccer team at a 4-1-1 record and returns the team to their winning ways.
The Mustangs victory over Central was decisive on the scoreboard, but no so much on the field. Mason came out flat from the jump and were somewhat careless with their possessions in the opening throughout. Junior midfielder Rebecca Crouch gave Mason the lead after her swooping corner kick found its way into the back of the net, but soon after Central mounted a counterattack that was met with little resistance.
Central’s surge only amounted to two botched open looks in front of Mason’s goal and, while a bit alarming, was also just the kind of scare the Mustangs needed.
“Sometimes we need those moments to help us realize that, at any time, anyone can score,” head coach Allison Klink said. “So if we’re not defending as a team and not attacking as a team, then those things might happen.”
Mason didn’t flirt with failure after that moment. Racking up five goals in 16 minutes, the Mustangs put the game well out of Central’s reach and continued to do so in the second half thanks to a revived passing attack.
“When we create momentum in a passing situation for our first goal it gets us going,” Klink said. “Tonight we kind of lost sight of that by playing a lot of thru balls, but you could see the movement once we started slowing it down.”
Crouch along with fellow midfielder sophomore midfielder Izzy Armstrong both tallied two goals. Senior Kate Mills, freshman Maura Mann and sophomores Victoria Rund and Emma Smith added the others.
Last Friday’s venture out to Madison, VA was equally as fruitful for Mason.
A quick start expedited the Mountaineers eventual defeat which has been the emphasis for Mason as of late.
“We’ve been trying to start out really strong,” Armstrong said. “We’ve had some struggles in games lately and weren’t thinking about the little things, so we just kept passes down and toward each other’s feet”
The Mustangs split their eight goal total evenly between both halves, with goals coming from Armstrong, Crouch, Mills, Rund, and two from Mann and senior midfielder Corrine Carson. Mills, Rund and Smith assisted on one goal each while Carson and Crouch both racked up two and three respectively en route to Mason’s victory.
Mason travels to play Rappahannock County High School for their next game on Friday, April 15.
