Category: Club Sports

The Mason Trap and Skeet Club Team continued the legacy of their historic program last month by winning its 11th National Championship in San Antonio, Texas. It was their first National Championship since 1994.

“It was a big team effort. We did not win any individual honors but as a group we shot really well,” head coach Gary Olin said. “That is why we won six team trophies. It is good to be back on the national stage.”

The program, which started in the early 1980s, is the second oldest club sport at Mason behind only rugby. Legendary coach John Linn led the team to seven consecutive national championships from 1985 – 1992.

Olin, who has been the head coach since 2001, has led the team back to its winning ways and ended their dry spell.

The team had a fair amount of success leading up to the championship, winning a couple of tournaments during the regular season. They won the team high overall among many others in the Eastern Regional Championships that featured over 120 shooters from 12 different schools ranging from Vermont to Virginia. They also won their second consecutive Virginia Own-The-Trophy tournament where they have the honor of traveling with the trophy for a year.

Among their team accolades included many individual titles from sophomores Austin Hall and Renee Murphy. Both are Eastern Regional Champions and improved tremendously from last year. Their near perfect performances at nationals, included a 99 by Hall in trap.

“We work hard all year long and to go down there and not win would be a let down,” said Murphy, who only has two years of shooting experience but already is the woman’s champion in Virginia. “We work so hard for it. We realized that all of our hard work and practicing pays off. We went down with the mindset that we were going to win this year.”

The Trap and Skeet National Championships are very different from other sports because every team qualifies for nationals as long as they can afford it. There are three divisions that are determined by how many shooters a team has.

A program like Mason, which has only eight shooters, is placed in division three. Larger programs like Lindenwood University from Missouri are placed in division one because they brought over 50 shooters and have more larger budget than other schools.

The hardest part and biggest difference in shooting, according the Olin, is not the money or size of the program.

“In some sports if things are going badly, the coach can call a timeout and talk to the players like in basketball and football,” said Olin, whose coaching position is 100% voluntary. “When your team is shooting, you do not get to do that. You just have to stand back and watch them. You have to keep your fingers crossed and hope that they do well. It is hard to be a spectator.”

For the shooters, the toughest part is keeping their head straight even when they miss a target.

“Mental. There are people on our team where if they miss one bird, they are done,” said Hall and Murphy. “They get so frustrated with it. You could hit everything but could also psyche yourself up. Some people just beat themselves up about it.”

The team’s next goal is to build the program and recruit more shooters so they can repeat as champions.

“I think we could be even more successful if we had even more shooters. The coaching is awesome. If you could find yourself doing this and keeping up with it, it is definitely something to look into,” said Hall and Murphy. “You have to try it before you turn it down because it becomes addicting.”

With three shooters graduating, the program is looking for new shooters for both men and women.

 

STORY BY JAMES ZEMBRISKI

 

For the first time in their five-year history, the Mason inline hockey team won the SECHRL Regional Champions on February 23rd and 24th in Snellville, Georgia.

The Patriots defeated the defending national champions Bethel University 6-4 in the championship game.

“It felt great. It would have felt a lot different if we got it our first few years but four years of trying to get it and being so close with losing in overtime, losing in double overtime. It was so difficult to try and get over that hump,” said senior defenseman Andrew Lensing, who had 17 points in five games during the tournament. “Winning it now with the defending national champions in the same division and some teams that made it very far in nationals. It definitely made that 12-hour trip home a lot easier.”

The Patriots started off the weekend playing lackadaisically, tying Central Florida 5-5 and losing the Florida Gulf Coast 10-3. Coming in as the number two seed, they were only one loss away from going home. Frustrated and confused, the players organized a team meeting.

“We had a team meeting to try and get everyone focused and on the same page. We played horrible defense those first two games. It was just sloppy,” said Lensing, who is only behind his twin brother Cam in team goals with 15. “Everyone was just not playing well. The biggest thing said by our captain, Seve Cordova, was we need to start playing as a team.”

After playing like individuals, the Patriots started playing as a team. Cruising to victory over Coastal Carolina 9-1, they found themselves in a rematch with FGCU in the semi-finals.

Entering the third period down by four goals, the Patriots had a steep hill to climb. With 30 seconds left, they decided to pull goalie Jordan Pohl to give them an extra skater.

Sophomore Josh Herr skated towards the FGCU net, received a pass from senior forward Harrison Murdock and shot the game-tying goal glove low with only 19 seconds remaining to make it a 8-8 tie.

Senior Cameron Lensing scored the game winning goal 2:41 into overtime to send the Patriots to the championship.

“Harrison looked at Cam and I and said we have to score this shift. We got out there and Harrison beat his man and passed it to Cam who scored,” said Andrew Lensing, who registered a hat trick with two assists in the game. “We scored that shift and that is how we won the game. It was pretty cool.”

The next step for the Patriots was Bethel University in the championship. The Patriots lost the only two meetings against Bethel this season, getting outscored 11-2.

“We didn’t feel too intimidated. Every game we played Bethel before that, we played them well. It was just the momentum was not in our way, we do not get the first goal and stuff like that. We knew we could beat Bethel going into that game,” Andrew Lensing said.

Andrew Lensing scored the team’s first four goals in the 6-4 championship win over Bethel in a game the Patriots overall dominated.

“We played our game. They like to go 100%, quickly at you while we like to slow the puck down, find the mismatch and go one-on-one. It helped that we got the first goal because it kind of set our tone because they were backed on their heels,” said Andrew Lensing, scoring seven of his 13 goals in the semi-finals and finals. “We played a little bit differently defensively with our second line going to a 1-1-2, which is when one person is up, one in the middle and two defenseman back. They did not know what to do against it. The second lines’ defense was the best it has been all year.”

The Patriot’s first regional championship guarantees them an auto-bid in the national championship tournament in April. Inline hockey’s national tournament is exactly like March Madness in college basketball. Roller Hockey’s “selection Monday” is March 11th.

“We are pumped for nationals. We have shown all season long that we can hang with the best. We’ve beaten two top teams in the east, we have beaten the national champions and we won the south,” Lensing said. “We are pretty confident. There are no easy to go up against but we are pretty confident we can beat any team there.”

The Patriots finished the regular season with 10-2 record. Their top scorer, Cameron Lensing, has 21 goals and 21 assists. The next time they play is not until the national championships in Ft. Myers, FL on April 10th.

STORY BY JAMES ZEMBRISKI

 

The Ice Hockey team raised a total of $16,890 for two children’s charities in their third annual community fundraiser game.

Steve Hyjek started the event three years ago when he became the head coach at Mason as a way for the team to give back to the community.

“It is part of our program to do some community outreach and elevate the visibility of our program on campus,” Hyjek said.  “It is something that is important to me.  For me to be able take some of the skills that I have in life and some of the love that I have for the sport of hockey and use that to benefit others.”

Representatives from the Washington Capitals and the Department of Defense were also on hand to help the team raise money for charities Our Military Kids and So Kids Can.

Our Military Kids provides support for children whose parents are overseas in the National Guard and Military Reserve as well as children of Wounded Warriors.  So Kids Can is affiliated with the Washington Capitals and help kids in need in the Washington D.C metropolitan area.  Each group received half of the money raised.

Aside from donations and ticket sales, there were raffles and silent auctions to help raise money.

The silent auction included items such as a Brian Orakpo signed jersey and hockey stick signed by the 2012-2013 Washington Capitals team along with other NFL, NHL, NBA and MLS autographed items.  Volunteers, many who are not even affiliated with the team, helped run both events.

“These are all friends.  Some of them have no connection to George Mason.  They are people that want to help out,” Hyjek said, giving credit to all those who volunteered at the event.  “ It is a team effort.  The players also helped pitch in by selling tickets and helping us with sponsorships.  Doing something like this is an important part of who you are as a person, not just who you are as a player or as a team. It is something we all believe in.  It is something we need to do.”

Volunteer Bonnie Marlar has helped since the event started three years ago and loves what it stand for.

“I love it because he (Hyjek) puts together a lot of great things to donate and it is always for a great cause.  He pulls together a lot of money for the cause.  I just enjoy helping,” Marlar said as she helped potential winners.

As for the game, the Patriots beat the NCR Military Eagles 3-2 in the friendly exhibition behind Seve Cordova’s two goals and an assist.  The Eagles consist of players who are currently serving in the military.  One of the Patriot players, defenseman Nelson Dasilva, is a former Marine and thinks the event to help out military families is for a great cause.

“I think it is for a good cause.  It helps bring exposure to some charities and exposure to the community in terms of Mason as a school.  The community gets to see Mason do good things,” Dasilva said, who completed two tours of Iraq in 2003 and 2004.  “It was a fun game.  Lots of people came out.  The energy was great.”

The Patriots will continue their season this semester looking for wins to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Story by: James Zembriski