Sept. 15, 2005

The George Mason women's soccer team, unbeaten and home and riding a three-game overall winning streak, faces its toughest home challenge to date on Friday evening when the Patriots host Yale in a non-conference match slated for a 7 p.m. start at George Mason Stadium.

The Patriots enter the contest 3-2 and have earned their winning streak with a 3-0 win at American, a 6-1 home win over St. Joseph's and a 1-0 win at Arkansas. The Patriots got a hat trick from sophomore Rachel Wiggins against St. Joe's and then received a combined shutout from Olivia Brown and Kasey Davenport against Arkansas.

Yale, meanwhile, rides a four-match winning streak into Friday's contest. The Bulldogs (4-2) are ranked No. 3 in the Northeast region by Soccer Buzz Magazine. They dropped 1-0 matches at No. 8 Duke and No. 1 North Carolina to open the season but have since downed St. John's and Hartford, 1-0, Central Connecticut, 2-0, and Quinnipiac, 5-0. This will be Yale's seventh game in 15 days and fifth road game in that time.

Yale has had superb play from its goalkeepers, with Chloe Beizer allowing .57 goals per game and Susan Starr giving up just .40 goals per game. Beizer has one shutout and she and Starr have combined on two others. Crysti Howser has four goals and two assists on the season while Emma Whitfield has three goals and one assist.

Mason, ranked No. 12 in the Mid-Atlantic by Soccer Buzz, has been led by Wiggins' four goals and one assist while Danielle MacDonald has two goals and one assist. Davenport has not allowed a goal in nearly 72 minutes in net, stopping all five shots she has faced. Brown has stopped 75 percent of the balls requiring a play and has allowed seven goals in nearly 385 minutes.