The AU men's soccer team lost 1-0 in overtime to George Mason University in the finale of the D.C. College Cup, putting the Eagles into third place in the tournament with one victory and one defeat.
The loss came during the team's second game in three days. Todd West, the team's head coach, said he believed fatigue was a factor in the game's outcome.
"We can't really get that type of game fitness in preseason practice," he said.
After the Eagles beat Howard University 5-0 in the two-day tournament's opening game on Friday afternoon, they looked to capture their second cup in three seasons with a victory over George Mason's Patriots.
Both teams came out of the gate red hot, with each side providing numerous scoring chances in the first half.
George Mason got the first attempt on goal in the 10th minute, when Draymond Washington placed a header over the crossbar.
AU responded seconds later as sophomore forward Daniel Shannon's free-kick also went high over the crossbar, a place where the Eagles would routinely miss throughout the game.
With the score tied at zero entering halftime, both teams looked to get on the scoreboard in the second half of play.
George Mason had the first great scoring chance in the second half in the 52nd minute of play, but AU freshman goaltender Matt Makowski made a great diving save to keep the score level at zero.
The Eagles made one final push towards goal in the 76th minute when a cross off of a corner kick made its way past the George Mason goaltender. A Patriots defender kicked it away at the last minute to send the game into overtime.
The exhaustion of playing into overtime finally caught up to the Eagles only five minutes into the period, as George Mason sophomore forward Parker Walton buried the game-winner past Makowski to give the Patriots the 1-0 victory.
With the loss, the Eagles drop to 1-1-0 on the season as they head to Durham, N.C., to compete in a tournament at Duke University next weekend.
With two games scheduled in three days again, against North Carolina State University on Friday and Duke on Sunday, West said he recognizes that something needs to be done to prevent another collapse in conditioning.
"We had players playing 90 minutes, 80 minutes in an intense game today," he said. "We got some guys game experience but we need to keep building on it."
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
