Aug. 24, 2006

The George Mason women's soccer team will open the season on Friday afternoon when the Patriots take on Virginia Tech on the road. The Hokies were 6-10-3 in 2005 and they split a pair of exhibition games this summer, losing to No. 10 Tennessee, 4-3, and beating VCU, 1-0. The Patriots were 8-11-0 last year and they won their only exhibition contest, downing Richmond, 3-1.

The Patriots will open the season on the road for the second-straight season and the sixth time in the past 10 years. One of the few times Mason has opened at home in the past few seasons was 2003 when the Patriots took on Virginia Tech in the only previous meeting between the two teams. Mason won that contest, 4-2.

The Patriots have eight first-year players on their roster and many of them contributed in Mason's exhibition win. Sasha Vido scored twice and Leslie Cabe added a goal. Freshman goalkeeper Kelly Keelan had a scoreless 30 minutes in net for the Patriots.

Mason returns its leading goal scorer from 2005 in Rachel Wiggins, who had seven goals and three assists. Of Mason's top five goal scorers, four return this year. Sarah Fack scored four times, Jessica Paris had three goals and an assist, and Nilani Duarte had two goals and an assist. Also returning are all of Mason's goalkeeper minutes, as both Olivia Brown and Kasey Davenport are back. Brown is the team's lone senior.

Virginia Tech returns players who combined for 12 of the Hokies' 18 goals in 2005. Laurie Beth Puglisi scored a team-high six goals last year, playing in all 19 games and starting 15 of those contests. Erin Moore tied for the team lead with three assists along with two goals. Mauri Liberati and Heather Hallberg each had two goals.

The Patriots enter the season having received votes in SoccerBuzz's regional rankings of the Mid-Atlantic. The Hokies did not receive any votes.

Tip-off on Friday is 7 p.m. Fans can watch live stats on the internet through the Virginia Tech athletics web site, at www.hokiesports.com