Women's Soccer Schedule Has Strong Regional Flavor

George Mason Athletics Women's Soccer 7/19/2010 12:00:00 AM

July 19, 2010

The 2009 George Mason women's soccer season was one for the record books as the Patriots led the nation in win improvement finishing the year at 14-4-2 and tying for fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association. So what will the 2010 season hold? Fans can find out beginning August 21 when the women's soccer team plays its lone exhibition game, hosting George Washington at 6 p.m. The regular season will open on August 25 at Howard at 7 p.m. with the first regular-season home match slated for August 29 against Navy.

The Patriots will play just seven regular-season home matches this year. Following the meeting with Navy there will be a non-conference contest on September 8 against VMI and conference matches against Old Dominion (Sept. 24), William & Mary (Sept. 26). VCU (Sept. 30), UNCW (Oct. 15) and Georgia State (Oct. 17). Despite the fact that there are six regular-season road matches, the Patriots will never stray far from home. After the Howard match, the Patriots will play at Mount St. Mary's (Aug. 31), at Georgetown (Sept. 4), against American at Georgetown (Sept. 6), at UMBC (Sept. 15) and at Maryland (Sept. 17). The first road CAA match will be at James Madison (Oct. 3) with the season's biggest road trip to follow, as Mason plays atNortheastern (Oct. 8) and at Hofstra (Oct. 10). The final three games of the year see Mason at Delaware (Oct. 22), at Drexel (Oct. 24) and at Towson (Oct. 29).

The CAA Tournament will begin on November 5 at the highest seed. The top four teams make the tournament. The Patriots missed last year's tournament by virtue of losing a tiebreaker to James Madison for the fourth and final spot.

"We basically have created a four-phase schedule for our 2010 team," Mason head coach Diane Drake said. "Once again this schedule is highly regionalized. Our first phase is preseason with a fiery scrimmage against local rival George Washington. Our second phase has two nationally recognized teams in 2009 Elite 8 participant Maryland and Big East power, Georgetown. During this phase we also will play strong regionally recognized matches against Navy and American which will definitely prepare us for conference play.

"We also continue our home and home series with greatly improved squads Howard, Mt St Mary's, VMI and UMBC. This gives us a nice balance to prepare for phase three of our season which is conference play. Lastly, phase four is the quintessential goal, and this is post season play."

The Patriots have faced all eight of their non-conference opponents within the past four years, with four of them appearing on the schedule last season. The Patriots beat Howard 4-0 last year, topped Mount St. Mary's by a 6-0 score, beat VMI by a 3-0 margin and downed UMBC by a 4-0 score. The Patriots last played Maryland in the 2008 opener, losing at College Park, 5-0. In 2007, Mason faced American, falling to the Eagles 3-1. In 2006, the Patriots beat Georgetown 2-0 while losing to Navy, 1-0.

Mason went 6-3-2 in conference play last year. After opening the season with a 2-1 loss to James Madison, a 2-1 overtime loss at 2-1 and a 1-0 home loss to Hofstra, the Patriots closed the season with an eight-game unbeaten streak. First came a 4-1 win over Northeastern and that was followed by a 0-0 tie at Georgia State and a 1-1 tie at UNCW. Mason came home and ran off a five-game winning streak to end the year, beating Drexel, 3-0, Delaware, 1-0, William & Mary, 3-2 in overtime, Old Dominion, 1-0, and Towson, 4-0.

Despite losing half of the team's starters to graduation or injury, the Patriots still return NSCAA All-Region player Omolyn Davis and Virginia Rookie of the Year Tiana Kallenberger. The pair were the top two players last year on Mason in terms of points, goals and assists.

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY 2010 WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE

AUGUST 21 SAT GEORGE WASHINGTON (Exhibition) 6 p.m. 25 Wed at Howard 7 p.m. 29 SUN NAVY 3 p.m. 31 Tue Mount St. Mary's 7 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 4 Sat at Georgetown (Georgetown Tournament) Noon 6 Mon vs. American at Georgetown (Georgetown Tournament) 2:30 p.m. 8 WED VMI 7 p.m. 15 Wed at UMBC 4 p.m. 17 Fri at Maryland 7 p.m. 24 FRI OLD DOMINION * 6 p.m. 26 SUN WILLIAM & MARY * 2 p.m. 30 THU VCU * 6 p.m.

OCTOBER 3 Sun at James Madison * 1 p.m. 8 Fri at Northeastern * 6 p.m. 10 Sun at Hofstra * 1 p.m. 15 Fri UNC WILMINGTON * 6 p.m. 17 Sun GEORGIA STATE * 1 p.m. 22 Fri at Delaware * 7 p.m. 24 Sun at Drexel * 1 p.m. 29 Fri at Towson * 2 p.m.

NOVEMBER 5 Fri CAA Tournament (Highest seed) TBA 7 Sun CAA Tournament (Highest seed) TBA

	GEORGE WASHINGTON (Exhibition) Saturday, August 21 2009 Record: 7-8-4 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 16-0-3 Last Meeting: Mason 3, George Washington 2 (9/22/04, Washington D.C.)
	at Howard Wednesday, August 25 2009 Record: 4-8-2 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 2-0 Last Meeting: Mason 4, Howard 0 (8/30/09, Fairfax)
	NAVY Sunday, August 29 2009 Record: 14-5-2 All-Time Series: Navy leads, 3-1-1 Last Meeting: Navy 1, Mason 0 (9/15/06, Annapolis)
	at Mount St. Mary's Tuesday, August 31 2009 Record: 6-11-2 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 1-0 Last Meeting:Mason 6, Mount St. Mary's 0 (8/28/09, Fairfax)
	at Georgetown Saturday, September 4 2009 Record: 12-6-2 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 3-0 Last Meeting: Mason 2, Georgetown 0 (9/2/06, Washington D.C.)
	vs. American (at Georgetown) Monday, September 6 2009 Record: 11-10-0 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 13-3 Last Meeting: American 3, Mason 1 (9/18/07, Fairfax)
	VMI Wednesday, September 8 2009 Record: 7-10-3 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 1-0 Last Meeting: Mason 3, VMI 0 (8/21/09, Lexington, Va.)
	at UMBC Wednesday, September 15 2009 Record: 2-14-1 All-Time Series: Mason leads, 2-0 Last Meeting: Mason 4, UMBC 0 (9/22/09, Fairfax)
	at Maryland Friday, September 17 2009 Record: 14-6-2 All-Time Series: Maryland leads, 12-5-1 Last Meeting: Maryland 5, Mason 0 (8/23/08, College Park, Md.)
	OLD DOMINION Friday, September 24 2009 Record: 7-8-5 (3-4-4 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 12-6-1 Last Meeting: Mason 1, Old Dominion 0 (10/25/09, Norfolk,Va.)
	WILLIAM & MARY Sunday, September 26 2009 Record: 12-7-0 (6-5-0 CAA) All-Time Series: William & Mary leads, 20-13-5 Last Meeting: Mason 3, William & Mary 2 (OT) (10/23/09, Williamsburg,Va.)
	VCU Thursday, September 30 2009 Record: 6-11-2 (2-8-1 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 11-4-5 Last Meeting: VCU 2, Mason 1 (OT) (9/27/09, Richmond, Va.)
	at James Madison Sunday, October 3 2009 Record: 11-8-2 (6-3-2 CAA) All-Time Series: James Madison leads, 13-10-3 Last Meeting: James Madison 2, Mason 1 (9/24/09, Fairfax)
	at Northeastern Friday, October 8 2009 Record: 12-4-3 (7-1-3 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 3-2 Last Meeting: Mason 4, Northeastern 1 (10/4/09, Fairfax)
	at Hofstra Sunday, October 10 2009 Record: 10-6-3 (7-2-2 CAA) All-Time Series: Hofstra leads, 6-2-1 Last Meeting: Hofstra 1, Mason 0 (10/2/09, Fairfax)
	UNC WILMINGTON Friday, October 15 2009 Record: 13-8-1 (7-3-1 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 13-6-1 Last Meeting: Mason 1, UNCW 1 (10/11/09, Wilmington, N.C.)
	GEORGIA STATE Sunday, October 17 2009 Record: 7-6-6 (1-5-5 CAA) All-Time Series: Series tied, 2-2-1 Last Meeting: Mason 0, Georgia State 0 (10/9/09, Atlanta)
	at Delaware Friday, October 22 2009 Record: 6-6-5 (3-4-4 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 6-3-1 Last Meeting: Mason 1, Delaware 0 (10/18/09, Fairfax)
	at Drexel Sunday, October 24 2009 Record: 4-13-1 (2-8-1 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 6-0-2 Last Meeting: Mason 3, Drexel 0 (10/16/09, Fairfax)
	at Towson Friday, October 29 2009 Record: 7-11-2 (3-7-1 CAA) All-Time Series: Mason leads, 7-1-0 Last Meeting: Mason 4, Towson 0 (10/31/09, Fairfax)