Nov. 7, 2009
FAIRFAX, Va. -- The ODU Monarchs men's soccer team (11-4-2, 6-3-2) defeated George Mason (10-7-1, 5-5-1) in the final regular season game of the season tonight, 1-0, clinching a trip to the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament. Senior Nane Joseph (Yaounde, Cameroon) scored with under two minutes remaining to give ODU a win; that combined with a Hofstra tie with UNCW and a JMU win over Towson gave ODU the 4th place tiebreaker against the Pride and powered Old Dominion into the playoffs.
Coming into Saturday night's game, the Monarchs needed to win to have a chance at the 2009 CAA Tournament. With Joseph's goal, off assists from defender Adrian LeRoy and Steffen Rabben, in the 89th minute of play, ODU took care of that. However, when Hofstra stretched top-seeded UNC Wilmington to a scoreless draw and earned a point in the CAA standings, the two teams would be tied for fourth place, forcing a tiebreaker.
With a tie in the head-to-head matchup, and the same result against the top three teams, the tiebreaker would be decided by who finished 6th place in the league. Old Dominion won the tiebreaker when James Madison defeated Towson, 5-2, on Saturday night, as the Monarchs defeated the Dukes earlier this season and Hofstra was defeated by JMU.
The Monarchs win over the Patriots is the ninth shutout of the season for ODU and the 30th career clean sheet for junior goalkeeper Evan Newton. The defense, led by captains Jason Loizou and Adam Roscioli, with LeRoy and freshman Alex De John, held the Patriots to just five shots in the game. Newton made three saves to preserve the shutout.
Offensively, ODU was led by the senior midfielder who scored the gamewinner. Joseph had three shots, including two on-goal and the winner, coming off a rebound with under two minutes remaining. He leads the team in goals scored with six and points, with 15. Rabben had four shots, including three on-frame, adding his second assist of the season.
Mason's goalkeeper, Sean Kelley, made seven saves in the contest and three different players, coming off the bench, had the shots on-goal.
The win powers ODU into the CAA Tournament as the #4 seed, and they will face host and #1 seed UNC Wilmington at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 13 in the semifinals.
ODU 0-1=1GMU 0-0=0
88:03 ODU Joseph, Nane from Rabben & LeRoy
Shots: ODU (13), GMU (5)Corner Kicks: ODU (4), GMU (1)Saves: ODU-Newton (3); GMU-Kelley (7)Cautions and Ejections: YC-ODU #22 (13:28), TC-GMU #13 (65:28)