Aug. 28, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. - Sophomore goalkeeper Sean Kelley, the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year, was named to the 2007 CAA Preseason All-Conference Team at goalkeeper. The squad was selected by a vote of the conference's 12 head coaches.

In addition to earning last year's CAA Rookie of the Year honors, Kelley was rewarded with a slew of accolades for his outstanding freshman season, including being named to the College Soccer News All-Freshman First-Team and the Top Drawer Soccer All-Rookie Team. He also was named Third-Team All-South Atlantic Region, Second-Team All-CAA, and earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie and All-Tournament teams.

Starting all 21 matches for the Patriots in goal last season, Kelley tallied 102 saves and 11 shutouts to lead the conference and was a major factor in George Mason making a run to the final match of the CAA Championships, as well as the team's first appearance in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Tournament in a decade. The Lexington, Ky. native finished the season with a 0.64 goals against average in 1977 total minutes played as the Patriots finished the year with a 12-6-3 record.

Old Dominion senior defender David Horst, who is one of 29 players on the Hermann Trophy Watch List as the nation's top collegiate men's soccer player, was selected as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year.

Horst earned CAA Defender of the Year honors and was named to the All-CAA and All-South Atlantic Region squads in 2006 after anchoring an ODU defense that posted 10 shutouts and allowed only 24 goals in 22 matches. The Monarchs made their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in school history.

Joining Horst on the preseason All-CAA men's soccer team are two other first-team all-conference performers from a year ago - senior midfielders Pat Healey of Towson and Chris Cox of Hofstra. Healey contributed six goals and three assists for a Tigers' squad that went 15-2-3 overall and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, while Cox tallied four goals and four assists for a Pride team that captured its third consecutive CAA Championship. Other midfielders on the preseason All-CAA squad are VCU senior Matthijs Maruanaya (5 goals, 2 assists), who received second-team all-conference honors in 2006, and Northeastern sophomore Alexander Volk (6 goals, 5 assists), who was a member of the conference's All-Rookie team.

At the forward spots are Northeastern senior forward Greg Kilkenny (6 goals, 5 assists), Delaware senior forward Sobhan Tadjalli (9 goals, 4 assists) and James Madison senior forward Lasse Kokko (3 goals, 1 assist). Kilkenny and Tadjalli were both All-CAA Second-Team picks last season.

On defense, Horst is joined by junior teammate Trevor Banks (4 goals, 2 assists), who was the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2005, and Hofstra junior Corey Gudmundson, who was a member of the CAA All-Tournament team in 2006.

The 2007 CAA men's soccer season opens up this Friday with all 12 teams in action on either Friday or Saturday. George Mason will host the D.C. College Cup at George Mason Stadium this weekend, beginning its season with a match on Friday against Howard at 7:30 p.m.

2007 PRESEASON ALL-CAA MEN'S SOCCER TEAM
Player, School, Pos., Cl., Hometown
Greg Kilkenny, Northeastern, F, Sr., Bray Wilkow, Ireland
Lasse Kokko, James Madison, F, Sr., Lempaala, Finland
Sobhan Tadjalli, Delaware, F, Sr., Hockessin, Del.
Chris Cox, Hofstra, MF, Sr., Nottingham, England
Pat Healey, Towson, MF, Sr., Bel Air, Md.
Matthijs Maruanaya, VCU, MF, Sr., Aikmaar, Netherlands
Alexander Volk, Northeastern, MF, So., Nordrach, Germany
Trevor Banks, Old Dominion, D, Jr., Madison, Wisc.
Corey Gudmundson, Hofstra, D, Jr., Dallas, Texas
David Horst, Old Dominion, D, Sr., Pine Grove, Pa.
Sean Kelley, George Mason, GK, So., Lexington, Ky.

PRESEASON CAA MEN'S SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR: David Horst, Old Dominion