DALLAS, Texas - After taking perennial men's soccer power Virginia to double overtime last weekend before falling by a final score of 3-2, George Mason (1-1-1) travels to Dallas, Texas this weekend to take on a pair of tough foes at the 2008 Prego's Express Italian Men's Soccer Invitational on Sept. 12-13 at Westcott Field on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The Patriots open the tournament with a match against SMU (3-0-1) at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Friday before closing out the trip with a match against Tulsa (2-1-1) at 6 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

Both SMU and Tulsa are ranked in the latest NSCAA/adidas Division I Men's Soccer Rankings. The Mustangs moved up to fourth when the poll was released on Tuesday, while Tulsa improved three spots to take the 15th position this week. While Mason isn't ranked in the national poll, the Patriots are tied for sixth in the latest NSCAA/adidas South Atlantic Region Poll.

George Mason has played three consecutive overtime contests to start the season, with a win, a tie and a loss among the results. The freshmen contributed mightily in the narrow loss to Virginia last Friday and Head Coach Greg Andrulis will hope for more of the same this weekend. Freshman midfielder Ryan Gracia scored the first goal of his career against the Cavaliers, while forward Draymond Washington assisted on both goals Mason scored in the match.

Southern Methodist opened its season with wins against Old Dominion and then-No. 18 Virginia at the Virginia Classic Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. to take the tournament title. Following the season-opening tournament, SMU traveled to Berkeley, Calif. to compete in the Cal Legacy Classic. The Mustangs shut out perennial power Stanford, 2-0, and tied then-No. 11 Cal on its home field by a final score of 1-1. Senior forward Paulo da Silva, the reigning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week, leads SMU with three goals and two assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Craig Hill has tallied two shutouts in four matches this season.

Similar to SMU, Tulsa has also played a tough early-season schedule, featuring a draw against then-No. 2 Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. and a 2-0 loss to Ohio State, ranked 10th in the NSCAA/adidas Poll at the time of the match. The Golden Hurricane have registered wins against Georgia Southern and Penn State this season. Senior forward Eric DeFreitas leads Tulsa with two goals and four points on the season. Senior Tyrel Lacey has been a force in the net, with a shutout and 0.95 goals against average in four starts.

The tournament opens at 6 p.m. EDT on Friday when Oakland plays No. 15 Tulsa, followed at 8:30 p.m. EDT by George Mason and No. 4 SMU. The second round will be played Saturday, when Tulsa squares off with George Mason at 6 p.m. EDT and SMU against Oakland at 8:30 p.m. EDT.