June 13, 2005

FAIRFAX, Va. - Seven first-time opponents, including two meetings in Hawaii, highlight George Mason's women's soccer schedule, as announced Monday by second year Patriot head coach Diane Drake. Five of the seven meetings are against non-conference foes, while two will be first-time clashes against new Colonial Athletic Association opponents Georgia State and Northeastern.

"Once again, George Mason has a very challenging and exciting schedule," stated Drake, who enters her second season at Mason with a 10-7-3 record and is 55-51-9 overall in six seasons as a head coach. "We are trying to put ourselves in position to succeed. Our goal is to always have a record over .500 and to be a contender for an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament. We also want to perform well within our conference and win the tournament title.

"The best part about our schedule is that we have seven teams that we've never faced before in the history of our program. The majority of these opponents have been in and out of the national and regional rankings for several years. So, it will be exciting to see how we fare against them."

The Patriots begin 2005 with their first-ever trip to Hawaii, where they will face two teams for the first time in host Hawaii and Brigham Young on back-to-back days, Aug. 26-27. Mason returns to the mainland on Aug. 30 for a visit to area-rival American.

Mason's first home game will be a first-time meeting versus St. Joseph's on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Other home contests against first-time non-conference opponents include Yale (Fri., Sept. 16) and East Tennessee State (Sun., Sept. 18). The Patriots open their CAA slate at home versus Towson on Saturday, Sept. 24, in a doubleheader with the men's program.

Five home games dot the schedule in October, including the first-ever meeting against new conference foe Northeastern Friday, Oct. 7. Mason is slated to face Georgia State in Atlanta on Sunday, Oct. 16. Arch-rival and 2004 College Cup qualifier James Madison visits Fairfax Sunday, Oct. 2.

George Mason played solidly all season in 2004 for Drake. After starting the year 2-4-1, the Patriots rebounded to go 8-3-2 down the stretch, winning at least 10 regular season games for the first time since 2000 and posting a four-game win streak for the first time since 1998. The squad finished with a 10-7-3 overall record (5-2-2 CAA).

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY 2005 WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
Aug.	26 (Fri)	at Hawaii	(7 pm local) Midnight
	27 (Sat)	vs. Brigham Young (at Hawaii) Midnight
	30 (Tue.)	at American	3 p.m.
Sept.    6 (TUE)	ST. JOSEPH'S	7 P.M.
	11 (Sun)	at Arkansas	1:30 p.m.
	16 (FRI)	YALE	7 P.M.
	18 (SUN)	EAST TENNESSEE STATE	1 P.M.
	21 (Wed)	at Pennsylvania	3 p.m.
	24 (SAT)  *&	TOWSON	5:30 P.M.
	30 (Fri)  *	at Va. Commonwealth	7 p.m.
Oct.	 2 (SUN)  *	JAMES MADISON	1 P.M.
	 7 (FRI)  *	NORTHEASTERN	7 P.M.
	 9 (SUN)  *	HOFSTRA	1 P.M.
	14 (Fri)  *	at UNC Wilmington	7 p.m.
	16 (Sun)  *	at Georgia State	1 p.m.
	21 (FRI)  *	DELAWARE	7 P.M.
	23 (SUN)  *	DREXEL	1 P.M.
	27 (Thu)  *	at Old Dominion	7 p.m.
	29 (Sat)  *	at William & Mary	2 p.m.
		Colonial Athletic Association Tournament
Nov.	 1 (Tue)	First Round at Higher Seed	TBA
	 4 (Fri)	Semifinal at TBA	TBA
	 6 (Sun)	Championship at TBA	TBA
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
All Home Games at George Mason Stadium
* Colonial Athletic Association Game
& doubleheader with the men's team
-- ALL TIMES AND DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE --
-- ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN -