Oct. 16, 2009
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Junior Mike Pio (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) scored the equalizer in the second half, but the Explorers fell to George Washington 2-1 on an overtime penalty kick by Yoni Berhanu on Friday night. The Explorers drop to 4-6-2 (0-2-1 Atlantic 10) while the Colonials move to 7-5-0 (1-1-1 Atlantic 10).
The contest got off to a slow start with just one shot taken in the first 25 minutes, a high ball by GW's Andy Stadler. But as the temperature dropped in the air, things heated up on the field.
Explorer keeper Kyle Quigley was called for a red card in the 26th minute, forcing the Explorers to play a man down for the rest of the game. Stadler - the Colonials' Hermann Trophy watch-lister - went down with an injury just two minutes later.
Seth Rudolph came in for Stadler and immediately made his presence known. He sent a ball wide in the 32nd minute before connecting for the game's first goal at 36:15 off of a cross from Kyle Albrecht.
The Colonials hit for three more quick shots before the end of the half, but two went wide and Explorer keeper Jim Clark came up with a save.
The Explorers came alive in the second half after managing just one shot in the opening stanza. They attempted seven in the second half, started by Jeff Pio's (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) two shots in the first 10 minutes of the half. Mike Pio then got the Blue and Gold on the board in the 65th minute when he converted a corner kick from Ryan Richter (Southampton, PA/William Tennent) to knot the score at one each.
The Explorers had several chances to finish the game in regulation as two Glenroy Chapman (Sicklerville, NJ/St. Augustine) shots went high and Dan Korenyi (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) shot one just high with 1:31 left.
Berhanu then scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick 1:30 into the overtime period.
The Colonials held a 13-8 advantage on shots and a slim 6-5 lead on corner kicks. Clark suffered the loss in goal and made two saves in the effort. Colonial keeper Erik Haug earned the win in goal and made no stops, giving up one goal.
The Explorers return to action on Sunday when they host Richmond at 12:00 PM.
