The men’s soccer team improved its record to 1-1-1 by tying the Lafayette Leopards on Friday afternoon. This was the Wildcats’ first home game of the regular season, and it was played at the soccer complex on west campus.

It was also the first time Lafayette did not tally a win in the 2010 season.

The first seven shots of the game belonged to the Wildcats, who had a 24-12 overall shot advantage against Lafayette.

Sophomore midfielder Kyle McCarthy had two headers that appeared to be prime scoring opportunities, but they were stopped by Lafayette’s goalkeeper, Andrew Pianko, who had nine saves for the day.

Despite ‘Nova’s dominant start, Lafayette was the first team to score at 16:17. Sophomore John Brown took the ball up the right wing before assisting and crossing the ball to sophomore Sean Peckham, who found the back of the net with a header.

The Wildcats continued to press the Leopards and finally made progress at 40:37 when junior Matt Margiotta gained control of the ball in the midfield and was able to find the top right corner of the goal after pivoting.

The score remained tied during the second half of play even with a close call, when with about eight minutes on the clock, junior Kevin Garcia received the ball from McCarthy and sent it across the box to senior Anthony Griffith, who was not able to finish the play.

Two overtimes and a free kick for Villanova with 1:28 left in the second overtime still did not produce a winner.

Sunday was a different story for the Wildcats, as they were outplayed in the first half of play and fell 2-0 to George Mason at home, making their record 1-2-1.

Both of George Mason’s goals were scored in the first 45 minutes, as they outshot the Wildcats, 17-4. George Mason improved to 3-1-0 on the year after their defensive efforts.

After taking 10 of the game’s first 11 shots, the Patriots were finally able to get the ball past ‘Nova’s goalkeeper, junior Chris Bresnahan, at 37:49.

George Mason senior Anthony Han started the goal-scoring play on the left sideline by sending the ball ahead to senior Victor Freeman.

Sophomore A.J. Sheta received the grounded ball from Freeman, who was able to get a shot from the middle of the box into the lower right corner of the net past Bresnahan.

The next goal by the Patriots clocked in at 41:49, but it was before that that Sheta collided with a Villanova player and was injured. He did not return later in the game. The Patriots moved on with their second goal over the Wildcats shortly after the injury.

The goal scoring play was set up by Han once again when he found redshirt senior, Ernesto Marquez, who then found the open net in the upper right corner.

Even when down by two goals, the Wildcats tried to apply pressure to the Patriots defense in the second half.

Villanova was able to force George Mason goalkeeper Dustin Butcher to make six saves in the final 45 minutes, especially with the three quality scoring opportunities from sophomore Emerson Lawrence, sophomore Kyle Soroka, and freshman Joseph Schmid.

The game ended with the Patriots outshooting the Wildcats, 21-15 overall and 10-7 for shots on goal. George Mason also had the advantage when it came to corner kicks, with six to Villanova’s four. Villanova had 11 fouls to George Mason’s 13 and three yellow cards to the Patriots’ one.

The Wildcats are back in action on Friday at 5 p.m. when they go to Penn to take part in a Philadelphia Soccer Six match.