It’s as if the first half of the season didn’t happen for Maryland junior Jeremy Hall or George Mason senior Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe. Perhaps they would’ve preferred it that way.
Nine games into the year, Hall had just two goals and one assist, a disappointing output for a former member of the U.S. Soccer residency program. Although he did double his scoring output with two goals in Maryland’s tenth match, the Terrapins still lost, 5-3, to Clemson after giving up three goals during a 90-second second-half span.
What have the junior midfielder/forward and Maryland (18-3-0) done since? How about eleven straight wins — including an Atlantic Coast Conference title — a stretch in which Hall has posted nine goals, four assists, and was named ACC Tournament MVP.
“It’s the most consistent form he’s had his whole time here,” said Terps head coach Sasho Cirovski.
Nine was also Adjeman-Pamboe’s magic number, as the Patriots’ ninth match marked the senior forward’s first start of the season.
A month and a half later, the Patriots (14-6-2) are in the second round of the NCAAs for the first time since 1996, with the Bowie native’s eight goals and five assists propelling a current eight-game winning streak.
Adjeman-Pamboe, who transferred to Fairfax last year from St. Francis (Pa.), also has his own MVP award, earned for leading the Patriots to the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament championship.
George Mason has met Maryland once before in the NCAAs, with a 2-1 overtime win in the first round of the 1986 tournament. The two teams most recently met early in the 2007 season. Maryland won that match, 3-0, with Hall scoring twice.
George Mason at Maryland
Where » Ludwig Field, College Park
When » Tonight, 7
