Nov. 2, 2006
Virginia Beach, Va.--Freshman goalkeeper Sean Kelley (Lexington, Ky.) earned one of the top conference honors for the year as he was named the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, in a vote done by the league's head coaches, which was presented Thursday night on the eve of the semifinals and finals of the CAA Men's Soccer Championship in Virginia Beach. In addition, freshman midfielder Richard Edgar (Mechanicsville, Md.) was named to the All-CAA Rookie Team, while senior defender Fabien Lewis (Fyzabad, Trinidad) earned second team honors. Kelley was also named to the all-rookie team, as well as the All-CAA Second Team.
Kelley saw action in the net the entire 2006 season for the Patriots and played a total of 1,662 minutes. Heading into this weekend's competition, Kelly leads the conference in shutouts (11) and shutouts per game (0.61), while he is second in goals against average (0.60), second in save percentage (.884), third in saves (84) and fourth in saves per game (4.67). Prior to the first round of the CAA Championship, Kelley was ranked eighth in the nation in NCAA Division I competition in save percentage (0.876) and 14th in goals against average (0.63).
Throughout the season, Kelley was named CAA Rookie of the Week on three occasions (Sept. 11, Sept. 18 and Oct. 9) and was the only player in the league to be earn this honor more than twice. In addition, the Kentucky native was named CAA co-Player of the Week Oct. 9, as well as to the Men's College National Soccer Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer on the same day. In the Oct. 12 issue of Sports Illustrated, Kelley was featured in the `Faces in the Crowd' section and was also named to the `Best of the Rest' list by SoccerTimes.com.
From Sept. 8-Oct. 8, Mason won nine-straight games, which was only the third time in school history this happened and the first since 1998. In these nine games, Kelley allowed only three goals and six of the eight shutouts during this period ended in a score of 1-0.
Edgar started all 18 games in his first year with the Patriots. In his first collegiate contest, the Maryland native scored the game-winning goal in Mason's 1-0 season-opening win against Monmouth on Aug. 25. For his efforts, Edgar was named CAA Rookie of the Week, which put Mason's season total on this award to four out of the 10 weeks during the regular season. Edgar also had the game-winning goal at Virginia Commonwealth (Oct. 20) when the Patriots won by a score of 1-0. Edgar heads into this weekend sixth among teammates in point total (4) and third in game-winning goals (2).
In Lewis' first year with the Patriot program, he was an instrumental part of Mason's defense that helped with a CAA leading 11 shutouts through 18 games. Lewis played in 17 games for the Patriots in 2006 and was in the starting line-up 15 times.
This is just the second time in school history in which Mason has earned the CAA Rookie of the Year award as John O'Hara earned the honor in 2001. The conference all-rookie team was instilled in 2004 and this is the first time that Mason has had two representatives on the team and this is also the first time since 2002 in which two Patriots are on the all-second team.
Mason, seeded fourth in the CAA Championship, will face #1-seeded Towson on Nov. 3 in the semifinal round at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex in Virginia Beach at 5 p.m.
2006 All-CAA Men's Soccer Team
(Selected by CAA Men's Soccer Coaches)
First Team
Player, School Cl. Pos. Hometown/Last School
Michael Todd, Hofstra* Sr. F Cleveland, England/John Moores Univ.
Sebastian Haensel, Towson* Sr. F Leipzig, Germany/U. of Leipzig
Edson Elcock, Old Dominion* Sr. F Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Friends School
Kurt Morsink, James Madison* Sr. MF San Jose, Costa Rica/IMG
Chris Cox, Hofstra* Jr. MF Nottingham, England/Arnold Hill
Jared Kent, Old Dominion Sr. MF Marietta, Ga./Sprayberry
Pat Healey, Towson# Jr. MF Bel Air, Md./Calvert Hall
David Horst, Old Dominion# Jr. D Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove
Gary Flood, Hofstra# Sr. D Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge
Nigel Marples, Towson Sr. D Delta, B.C., Canada/North Delta
Brad Knighton, UNC Wilmington Sr. GK Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin
Second Team
Player, School Cl. Pos. Hometown/High School
Andrew Hoxie, William & Mary So. F Newport News, Va./Denbigh Baptist
Greg Kilkenny, Northeastern Jr. F Bray Wilkow, Ireland/Presentation College
Sobhan Tadjalli, Delaware Jr. F Hockessin, Del./A.I. DuPont
Matthijs Maruanaya, VCU# Jr. MF Aikmaar, Netherlands/Willem Blaeu
Chris Murray, UNC Wilmington# Sr. MF Roslyn Heights, N.Y./Roslyn
Fabio Assumpcao, Drexel Fr. MF Alves, Brazil/Colegio Batista Brasileiro
Martin Zaluk, Georgia State Sr. MF Schwalbach, Germany
Fabien Lewis, George Mason Sr. D Fyzabd, Trinidad/Naparima College
Aaron Shepherd, Georgia State Jr. D Marietta, Ga./Pope
Gerson Dos Santos, VCU So. D Sao Paulo, Brazil
Sean Kelley, George Mason Fr. GK Lexington, Ky./Paul Laurence Dunbar
2006 CAA Player of the Year: Michael Todd, Hofstra
2006 CAA Defensive Player of the Year: David Horst, Old Dominion
2006 CAA Rookie of the Year: Sean Kelley, George Mason
2006 CAA Coach of the Year: Frank Olszewski, Towson
* - All-CAA First Team in 2005 # - All-CAA Second Team in 2005
2006 CAA Men's Soccer All-Rookie Team
Player, School Cl. Pos. Hometown/Last School
Fabio Assumpcao, Drexel Fr. MF Alves, Brazil/Colegio Batista Brasileiro
Gerson Dos Santos, VCU So. D Sao Paulo, Brazil
Richard Edgar, George Mason Fr. MF Mechanicsville, Md./Edison A.C.
Sean Kelley, George Mason Fr. GK Lexington, Ky./Paul Laurence Dunbar
Richard Martinez, Hofstra Fr. D/MF Highland, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes
Jamal Neptune, Hofstra Fr. D East Windsor, N.J./Hightstown
Evan Newton, Old Dominion Fr. GK Virginia Beach, Va./Edison Acad.
Lars Okland, Northeastern Fr. MF Asker, Norway
Pedro Pereira, UNC Wilmington Fr. MF Cedar Park, Texas/Leander
Alexander Volk, Northeastern Fr. MF Nordrach, Germany
Thomas Weingartner, VCU Sr. MF Munich, Germany
