Sept. 8, 2004
Fairfax, Va...Sept. 8, 2004...George Mason's men's soccer team (1-1-0) will host the George Mason/Comfort Inn Classic for the 24th-straight year this coming weekend on Sept. 10 and 12. Mason will face No. 5 Santa Clara (2-0-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., while Loyola (Md.) (1-1-0) and Robert Morris (0-2-1) will kick-off the Classic at 5 p.m. at George Mason Stadium.
On Friday, the Patriots will distribute the new Mason athletics logo hat to the first 500 fans and will only charge $2 for alumni, their family and friends. In addition, Sunday's games will feature a FREE "moon bounce" for all youth in attendance.
Mason opened up its season on Sept. 3 on its home turf and defeated Longwood by a score of 2-1 after scoring two goals within 23 seconds of one another in the closing minutes of regulation. The Patriots then traveled to Baltimore for their first road game of the season and dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Loyola (Md.) on Sept. 5. Heading into this weekend's Classic, Mason is 11-2-5 in the event over the last nine years and boast a 27-9-9 all-time record in the tournament.
Santa Clara, ranked fifth nationally, won its second straight diadora Classic title, as SCU went 2-0 over its opening weekend. The Broncos claimed a 3-0 victory against Massachusetts on Sept. 2 and went on to post a 4-1 victory on Sept. 4 over UC Davis. In 2003, Santa Clara finished first in the West Coast Conference and closed out the season fourth in the nation after reaching the NCAA Semifinals. This is the second meeting between the Patriots and Broncos as Santa Clara defeated Mason on Sept. 7, 1997, with a 1-0 win on a neutral field in College Park, Md.
Loyola has yet to play on the road this season as the Greyhounds suffered a 3-2 loss to Princeton on Sept. 3, but rebounded with a 3-2 overtime win against Mason in Baltimore. Loyola head coach Mark Mettrick is 54-18-9 at Loyola and has won the MAAC Regular Season title in each of his first four seasons and the Greyhounds are the preseason favorite to win the MAAC for the 2004 season.
Robert Morris opened its season before any of the teams competing in the Classic and fell by a score of 1-0 to No. 22 Akron in Ohio on Sept. 1. The Colonials then competed in the Duquesne Tournament and lost to Philadelphia, 1-0, (Sept. 4) and ended in a scoreless tie against Albany the following day. Robert Morris closed out the 2003 season fourth in the Northeast Conference and clinched a conference tournament berth. This will be the first meeting between the Patriots and the Colonials.
The remaining games for the weekend are Santa Clara against Loyola at noon on Sept. 12 and the Patriots will wrap-up the Classic with a contest against Robert Morris at 2:30 p.m.
