Aug. 9, 2004

To get to the next level in anything one does, steps, whether big or small, have to be taken to reach the specific goal. George Mason's men's soccer program has been taking these steps for the past three seasons and has seen steady progress under the direction of head coach Fran O'Leary, including two-straight winning campaigns. Although earning an 11-6-6 overall record (4-2-3 CAA) in 2003, Mason did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But O'Leary and the Patriots are optimistic about the 2004 season and feel that they can win the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, as well as compete in postseason play. "I think we made a big step forward last season in getting to the conference title game," said O'Leary. "We have the vast majority of the players returning from that squad and we feel that we will contend for the CAA title, as well as an NCAA berth." Unlike in years past, the Patriots' 2004 roster will be composed of many veterans as Mason returns nine starters from last season and 13 letterwinners. A major contributing factor in the Patriots' success in 2003 was the defense, which posted a conference-leading 11 shut-outs and goalkeeper John O'Hara played a major role in accomplishing this feat. O'Hara returns for his senior season after starting 23 games last year in which he set a new Mason record for minutes played in a single season with 2,205. In addition, O'Hara compiled a conference second-best goals against average of 0.98, while 10.5 shutouts were also credited on his behalf for the 2003 campaign. "John (O'Hara) is one of the top, if not the best, goalkeepers in the country," expressed O'Leary. "We will be very solid at this position for the upcoming 2004 season." The Patriots will play a zonal 4-4-2 as they will look to defend as a group, which historically has been a strength of the team. "We are an honest team with players that will work for each other," said O'Leary. "We defend well as a group and, over the course of the spring, we improved on creating better scoring opportunities, which we will continue to focus on in the fall." Only time will tell if the right steps were taken by the Patriots during the 2004 season. Defense Mason's strongest asset in years past has been its defense and O'Leary thinks that this trend will continue as the Patriots gear up for 2004. Five athletes return to the backline for the Patriots, as well as one newcomer. Junior Anthony Noreiga is one of the veterans, who played and started in 19 games last season. He also played for Trinidad in the U-23 World Cup this past summer. "Anthony gained a lot of confidence playing for Trinidad and we expect him to have a very strong season," stated O'Leary. Senior Danny Climo started 21 contests in 2003 and closed out the season with four assists. "One of our most consistent players of the last couple of seasons has been Danny Climo," said O'Leary. "He has good passing range and is very dangerous on set pieces." Another returner is junior Damian O'Rourke, who started every game but three and notched three points for the Patriots last season. "Damian is a versatile athlete as he can play as a central defender or central midfielder," said O'Leary. "He has had two terrific seasons and we expect him to be one of the dominant players in the CAA this fall." Midfield The Patriots will see four familiar faces in the midfield and have added four new athletes to compete for playing time during the 2004 season. Senior Matt Mendy, who can play at either the back or the middle of the field, missed only one game last year and started 17 contests to finish third among his teammates in both goals and points with four and 10, respectively. "Matt chimed in with some important goals late in the season and we expect him to build on last year's performance," stated O'Leary. Senior David Quinn will be back as well after missing the majority of last year due to an injury. "A big boost for us is having David Quinn back out on the field," remarked O'Leary. "David was one of our best players in the preseason last year and it was a huge blow to the team when we lost him for the season because of an injury." Other returners to the midfield for Mason this season are Jean-Pierre Goncalves and Josh Fleming, while the fresh faces include senior-transfer Damien Quinn, as well as freshman Jordan Mault, Elon Backer and Adam Lobene. "We will be looking to put an honest midfield unit on the field and the key area we are looking to improve is the quality of service into the forwards," said O'Leary. "I believe with the returning players and the addition of the new players, we will have a very competitive and strong midfield." Forwards Mason has four athletes returning to the forward position and two newcomers are also slated to compete in 2004. Junior Steve Alabi is one of Mason's top returners as he closed out the season third in the CAA in goals with 12 and in points per game with 1.47. Alabi also led the Patriots in points with 28 and finished the year tied for first among his teammates with four assists. "Steve scored some terrific goals for us last year, until a late season injury halted his progress," expressed O'Leary. "We expect him to carry on where he left off in the fall." Junior Teba McKnight registered one game-winning goal after seeing action in 20 games for the Patriots. "Teba is coming off a very strong spring season in which he scored several important goals, coupled with some fine performances," said O'Leary. "We will be looking for him to make an impact at the forward position this season." Kephren Fuller, a versatile player as he can play forward or midfield, is back for his third season. Fuller was one of only three Patriots to play in all 23 games last year and he started 21 of those contests. "We expect great things from Kephren in the fall," stated O'Leary. "He was one of our most consistent players in the CAA Tournament and had a great second half of the season in 2003." Sophomore Matt Pepin is the fourth forward to return for Mason and he competed in 12 contests last season for the Patriots. "Matt gained valuable experience in several games last fall and we are looking for him to continue to compete for playing time this coming year," said O'Leary. Schedule Mason has a rigorous non-conference schedule to help the Patriots prepare for Colonial Athletic Association play. Three of these schools saw action in the 2003 NCAA College Cup including Santa Clara, which advanced to the semifinals and will participate in Mason's own Invitational this season. St. Louis lost in the NCAA Quarterfinals and will face off against the Patriots at St. John's Tournament, as well as NCAA invitee Seton Hall. "Once again, we have a very competitive schedule," said O'Leary. "I think early on in the season we will have a good test as to where we stack up against the elite level teams. Our non-conference games will leave us well prepared for the rigors of the conference schedule." In conference, O'Leary believes that six or seven of the 10 teams head into the season with a realistic chance of winning the CAA Tournament. "The Colonial Athletic Association is a terrific conference," expressed O'Leary. "Two of our schools were selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament last season and I feel that we will be able to compete at this level in 2004."