FAIRFAX, Va. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team could not overcome a quick start by No. 22 George Mason in falling, 2-0, Friday night in game one of the Capital Cup.

The Panthers (3-2-0) found themselves down a goal just 32 seconds into the contest against the Patriots (4-0-0) and were unable to dig themselves out of the hole in falling on the road.

"Well it's obviously disappointing," UWM head coach Kris Kelderman said. "We were excited to play against a very good opponent and it was a great opportunity. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge and that we needed to play very well to get a result. And when you start out like that, it's hard, and you have to rebound. They capitalized on another opportunity they had in the seventh minute and we found ourselves down 2-0."

Junior Agustin Rey did make six total saves on the night, including a pair of spectacular stops late, but the Milwaukee offense could not find any rhythm and were kept out of the scoring column by goalkeeper Steffan Kraus, a freshman All-American a season ago.

"It's one of those things where you have to regroup and you have to deal with it and move on," Kelderman said. "For the most part, we kept trying to play. We maintained possession-style soccer and did that for good portions of the game. We struggled on creating chances in front of the goal. We had a fair amount of shots but struggled in some really legitimate scoring opportunities. We have a young group, especially in the attacking side of things, and we have to get better every day."

The Panthers were much-improved in the second half, outshooting the Patriots by a 6-5 total which was more lopsided until late when UWM was pushing for goals, which in turn resulted in some easier chances for its opponent.

Rey came out to defend a long ball right out of the gates and could only get a piece of it. It was redirected to the top of the box where Mason Mulgrew one-timed it into a wide-open net just 32 seconds into the contest.

More bad luck followed. Rey made a nice save on a shot from the wing in the seventh minute, only to see it get deflected in front of the goal for an easy clean-up by Zach Herstek and a 2-0 advantage at the 6:44 mark.

Rey made impressive stops late, saving a breakaway in the 79th minute and making a reactionary stop on a blast with about two minutes remaining.

For the game, George Mason finished with a 12-7 advantage in shots and an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Senior Laurie Bell led the squad with four shots. Junior Zach Stevenson came on as a substitute and recorded a pair, including a near-goal late in the contest.

The Panthers wrap up the weekend of play in the Capital Cup with the second of back-to-back games against ranked opponents, heading to No. 19 American University for a 12 p.m. CST start Sunday.

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