Men's Soccer | 3/20/2018 12:02:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. – A coaching veteran with a multitude of experiences has joined the George Mason men's soccer coaching staff.

Patriots head coach Greg Andrulis has announced the hiring of Eduardo de Souza as an assistant coach. De Souza spent the last four years as the head coach of Richard Bland College, a junior college in Petersburg, Va. He also brings nine years of experience as a Division I assistant coach, spending six years at Longwood (including two as an associate head coach) and three at Mercer.

"We are thrilled to have such an accomplished coach join our staff," Andrulis said. "Eddie has served in many capacities during his coaching career, most recently starting a program (at Richard Bland) from scratch and in a couple of short years having them ranked 14th in the country. Eduardo is a winner on and off the field. He is great person who will represent George Mason at the highest level. Our program will benefit greatly from a coach who is a passionate teacher of the game and someone who is an accomplished recruiter."

"It is an honor and a privilege to coach at this institution," de Souza said. "The George Mason men's soccer program has always had a great tradition of excellence.  My goal is help this program get back where it belongs – the top. I believe every coach is an educator and our goal is to develop not only good players, but help young men to succeed in life."

De Souza led Richard Bland to three straight seasons of 10 wins or more. The Statesmen won a school-record 17 games in 2017, captured the NJCAA Region 10 regular-season championship and made the NJCAA Division I Southeast District Tournament for the second consecutive season. In September, de Souza guided Richard Bland into the NJCAA Division I men's soccer poll for the first time in program history. The Statesmen finished the season ranked 17th.

In 2016, Richard Bland won a then-school record 12 games and three straight matches in the Region X Tournament for the program's first-ever region title. The fifth-seeded Statesmen upset defending national champion and top-seeded Louisburg (N.C.) 2-1 in the semifinals before battling second-seeded Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist to a 1-1 double-overtime tie in the title match, winning in a PK Shootout, 4-2, to claim the championship.  Richard Bland advanced to the NJCAA Southeast District Championship, dropping a 2-0 decision to nationally-ranked No. 15 Eastern Florida State College in the semifinals. The Statesmen placed six team members on the 2016 All-Region X Team.

In 2015, de Souza led the Statesmen to a 10-8-2 record and the school's first-ever victory in the Region X Tournament.  The Statesmen defeated Cape Fear (N.C.), 4-0, before falling to eventual NJCAA national champion Louisburg (N.C.) in a semifinal (4-1).  Richard Bland placed six team members on the 2015 All-Region X Team.

De Souza was named head coach just 17 days before the start of the 2014 season.  He inherited a team that finished its inaugural 2013 season with a 2-14 overall record. He guided Richard Bland to a 5-13-1 record, including 3-12-1 in Region X and the program's first postseason match in the Region X Tournament.  The Statesmen placed one team member on the All-Region X Team.

Prior to Richard Bland, de Souza spent six seasons as part of the Longwood University men's soccer program, serving two seasons as the team's associate head coach, and helping the Lancers win the Big South Conference championship in 2011. Prior to joining the Lancers, he served as an associate head coach at the Schulz Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. For three years, he was an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Mercer University while the team won the Atlantic Sun Conference title. 

In 2015, de Souza was the head coach of the Palm Beach Suns FC in their inaugural season. Palm Beach Suns FC is an American soccer club based in Boca Raton, Florida. Founded in 2015, the team plays in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The Palm Beach County Based PDL team looks to bring back a winning team and organization to sunny South Florida, helping players to reach the professional level.

De Souza is a product of Brazil's Gremio FBPA but also has playing experience in Spain (Desportivo) and the United States (Tempest A League and Metro Stars). He helped Gremio FBPA to several state championships in Brazil.

He began his coaching career at Sport Club International-Professional Club in Brazil, where he worked primarily with the junior program, coaching the likes of Brazilian National Team members Rafael Sobis, Alexandre Pato and Nilmar.

De Souza led Zico Soccer Academy in Orlando and in New York. In his role he worked with Arthur "Zico" Antunes Coimbra, a world-renown soccer player who played for Brazil in three World Cups and scored more than 400 goals in his professional career. In addition, de Souza coached Olympic Development Program (ODP) in Georgia and Virginia from 2004 to 2011. 

De Souza currently holds a US Soccer Coaching B License, in addition to his Brazilian A License. He earned his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication at Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee and a master's degree in Education at Mercer University.

He was a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American student-athlete at Mid-Continent University in Kentucky, helping the program to a pair of NAIA Final Four appearances before transferring to Trevecca Nazarene.

A native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, de Souza and his wife, Larissa, have a daughter Livia.