Nov. 13, 2003
RICHMOND, VA ... George Mason junior goalkeeper John O'Hara and sophomore midfielder Damian O'Rourke have been selected to the All-Colonial Athletic Association men's soccer first team in voting by the 10 league head coaches. The announcement was made tonight at the CAA Awards Banquet at Virginia Commonwealth University, which is hosting the semifinals and finals for the CAA Men's Soccer Championship this weekend.
O'Hara earns first-team honors for the second straight season after being a second-team selection and the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2001. O'Rourke moves up to the first team after being a second-team pick and co-Rookie of the Year in the conference last season.
George Mason (10-5-6), seeded third in the CAA Championship, meets No. 2 Old Dominion (14-2-1) in the second semifinal game Friday at 8 p.m. at Sports Backers Stadium. Top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (14-4) faces No. 4 James Madison (11-6-2) in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m., and the two winners meet Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship game to determine the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA College Cup.
Virginia Commonwealth senior Matthew Delicate was selected as the conference Player of the Year after leading the CAA with 29 points on 10 goals and nine assists. Old Dominion head coach Alan Dawson, who led the Monarchs to 14 consecutive wins to open the season and a No. 2 national ranking, was named the Coach of the Year and ODU junior Trevor McEachron was chosen as Defender of the Year. James Madison freshman Mark Totten garnered the league's Rookie of the Year award.
O'Hara, a 6-1, 185-pound native of Foxford, Ireland, and a graduate of St. Jarlaths College, has had another outstanding season as the George Mason goalkeeper. He has recorded a 0.98 goals-against average and 64 saves while starting all 21 games this season. He has posted nine full shutouts and shared another, playing all but six minutes for the year. During the CAA regular season, O'Hara had a 0.71 GAA and 28 saves in nine games, posting four shutouts. His 2,025 minutes played ranks second for a season in George Mason history, leaving him just 111 short of the mark of 2,136 held by Ricardo Leite (1990) and Martin Nachtman (1996).
O'Hara, who also contributed to the offense this season with his first career assist, has started each of George Mason's 58 games over the past three seasons and has played all but 15 minutes between the pipes. For his career, he ranks third in Patriot history with 21 shutouts and is fourth with 206 saves, and he has a career GAA of 1.14 (70 goals allowed in 5,540 minutes).
A 6-2, 180-pound native of Shannon, Ireland, and a graduate of St. Patricks College, O'Rourke moved from being a central defender to playing defensive midfielder for George Mason at midseason and thrived in the role. He was instrumental in helping the Patriot defense post 10 shutouts, and Mason entered this week ranked 12th in the nation for shutout percentage at 0.50 per game. The Patriots have been strong over their last 13 games with a 6-2-5 record as the defense has allowed just nine goals over 1,290 minutes for a 0.63 GAA. O'Rourke missed three games due to injury but started the other 17, contributing a goal and an assist for three points (all in a 2-1 overtime victory at UNC Wilmington on Oct. 17) to the offense. For his career, he has four goals and four assists for 12 points.
