The cold and clouds were an ominous sign for the GW men’s soccer team’s Saturday match-up against George Mason.

This year’s installment of the annual meeting, which bounces between the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex and George Mason Stadium, found the Patriots with a 1-0 advantage after Mason sophomore Dan Ames tapped in the game-winning goal in the 26th minute. The loss was the third time in four games that the Colonials (2-3-1) were held scoreless.

GW had a few chances to even the score, most notably in the 88th minute. A yellow card to Mason’s Jacob Weitz two minutes earlier left the Colonials with a scoring opportunity, and freshman George Garcia’s 60-yard free kick sailed over many heads, skipped off the wet turf, and bounced into the crossbar, where it was cleared by a defender.

Head coach George Lidster said he thought his team was outmatched.

“I thought the guys (played) a lot better in the second half than the first half,” Lidster said. “I thought we were outplayed in the first half, but in the second half we took the game to them a little bit more, created a few chances.”

Mason out-shot GW 14-11 but the Colonials seemed more aggressive in the second half in trying to even up the game.

Historically, George Mason has been a tough opponent for GW. Since 1999, the Colonials are 1-5 versus the Patriots.

GW is a very young team, playing 14 freshmen on their roster. Five freshmen started for GW and four others saw time on the field.

“There are a lot of freshmen here, and seven or eight are on the field at one time,” Lidster said about the team’s experience. The Colonials committed 18 fouls while the Patriots tallied 15.

GW next faces Lehigh (4-1-1) at home on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Colonials then hit the road to face Rider (3-2-2) before beginning Atlantic 10 play on Sept. 29.