{"id":5936,"date":"2016-11-02T08:07:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T13:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=5936"},"modified":"2016-11-03T09:45:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T14:45:47","slug":"before-a-mason-team-made-it-to-the-final-four-we-made-it-to-the-final-two-and-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=5936","title":{"rendered":"Before a Mason Team Made it to the Final Four, We Made it to the Final Two. And Won!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"George<\/a>

George Mason University Women’s Soccer team members (left to right) Sis Koskinen, Pam Baughman, and Meg Romaine lift the NCAA Division I National Championship trophy. Image is from Mason<\/em> Magazine. George Mason University Archives, University Publications, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

While many college sports fans are familiar with the George Mason University Men’s Basketball team’s run to the Final Four in 2006, not as many know about the Mason Women’s Soccer team’s National Championship title of 21 years earlier. The author of this post recalls reading about this achievement in the student newspaper, then called\u00a0Broadside,<\/em>\u00a0while an 18-year-old freshman at Mason back in 1985. With the A-10 Conference Championship Tournament beginning this Thursday, November 3, it is as good a time as any to take a look back at what happened 31 years ago this month.<\/p>\n

In November of 1985, the George Mason University Women’s Soccer team captured the highest prize in collegiate athletics, the Division I National Championship.\u00a0After a 15-2-1 season, the Patriots earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. \u00a0The tournament began with a first-round thriller against William and Mary, where Mason scored two goals in the final 13 minutes to tie and send the match into overtime. Mason would eventually win in a penalty kick shootout after two overtime periods. Next, after a 1-0 win over Cortland State, Mason faced off against nationally number-one-ranked University of Massachusetts, who had gone into the tournament undefeated. Mason beat UMass 3-0, scoring more goals than had been scored against them during the entire season. \u00a0All that remained for Mason was to defeat then 4-time National Champion, North Carolina. Carolina had beaten Mason 4-0 in an NCAA semifinal match in 1983.<\/p>\n

\"1985<\/a>

1985 George Mason University Women’s Soccer team. From the 1986 yearbook,\u00a0By George.<\/em>\u00a0George Mason University Archives, University Publications, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mason had drawn home field for the Final on November 24th. \u00a0Before a partisan crowd of 4,500 and an ESPN television audience of millions, Mason scored first at 3o minutes on an 18-yarder from All-American Pam Bauman. The Patriots held the Tarheels scoreless for the rest of the game, while All-American Lisa Gmitter scored for Mason in the 86th minute to seal the 2-0 victory. The win, against a team that had a record of 99 wins and 4 losses during the previous 4 years, was indeed the first shot heard round the world for Mason athletics.<\/p>\n

Let’s do it again, Patriots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While many college sports fans are familiar with the George Mason University Men’s Basketball team’s run to the Final Four in 2006, not as many know about the Mason Women’s Soccer team’s National Championship title of 21 years earlier. The author of this post recalls reading about this achievement in the student newspaper, then called\u00a0Broadside,\u00a0while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,121,94],"tags":[401,400,398,396,211,402,97,223,399,397],"class_list":["post-5936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","category-university-archives","tag-a-10-soccer-tournament","tag-a-10-womens-soccer","tag-championship","tag-george-mason-patriots","tag-george-mason-university","tag-george-mason-university-womens-soccer","tag-gmu","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-womens-soccer-tournament","tag-soccer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-1xK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2274,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=2274","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":0},"title":"Who will be this year’s George Mason?","author":"Bob Vay","date":"March 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, the answer to that often-asked question may very well be... George Mason. At 26-6,\u00a0 Mason has compiled its best pre-NCAA Tournament season record to date, and for several weeks the Patriots have been included in various lists of the top-30 teams in the nation.\u00a0 Though it fell in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"Andre Smith (left) and Lamar Butler (right() embrace after the Patriots' victory over UConn.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/season2beleive.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9145,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9145","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":1},"title":"Presidents Series: 1996 \u2013 2012 \u2013 Alan G. Merten","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"April 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Lana Mason, Processing Student Assistant. Lana has an Associate of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Piedmont Virginia Community College. She is currently studying Art History at George Mason University. 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While our services are used mainly by students and faculty, we are open to the public for research or for personal interest. The SCRC staff is dedicated to preserving, organizing, and collecting various\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "oral history"","block_context":{"text":"oral history","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=104"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poe,Edgar Allan, The Raven, PS2609 .A1 1884, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/PS2609_A1_1884FB-240x168.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7604,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7604","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":3},"title":"New Exhibit in SCRC First Class: Mason ’68 and Beyond","author":"Bob Vay","date":"June 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On June 9, 1968 George Mason College of the University of Virginia awarded its first baccalaureate degrees to 52 candidates. Prior to that George Mason, then part of the University of Virginia's system of branch\u00a0 colleges, awarded only a two-year associate degree.\u00a0 Attendees were encouraged to complete their degree at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/First-ClassMason68.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11392,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11392","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":4},"title":"Not Just the Guy Whose Name Was on the Checks: Remembering Dr. Maurice “Morrie” Scherrens","author":"Bob Vay","date":"April 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the 1990s, before the age of direct payroll deposit, George Mason University employees received a printed check at the end of each pay period. In the lower right-hand corner of the check was the signature \"Maurice Scherrens\".\u00a0 While many of us might not have known exactly who Mr.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/R0135_1996-9-05.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/R0135_1996-9-05.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/R0135_1996-9-05.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/R0135_1996-9-05.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3722,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=3722","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":5},"title":"George Mason University: A History","author":"Bob Vay","date":"November 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"George Mason University Libraries' Special Collections & Archives\u00a0(SC&A) and Digital Projects and Systems departments have created a new resource by which users can learn about the history of the university through narrative essays and digital objects, such as audio and video files, photographs, and\u00a0\u00a0textual documents. 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