MEN'S SOCCER at Radford
WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 17 | 7 p.m.
WHERE: Radford, Va. | Cupp Stadium
RECORDS: Mason (3-5-3, 2-3-1 A-10); Radford (1-9-2, 1-3-0 Big South)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 7-1-0
LAST MEETING: The Patriots defeated the Highlanders, 3-1, on Sept. 10, 2022 at George Mason Stadium
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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's soccer team is on the road to face Radford in a non-conference match on Tuesday with the opening kick scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cupp Stadium in Radford, Va.
The Patriots are visiting Radford for the first time in program history.
Mason (3-5-1, 2-3-1 A-10) and Radford (1-9-2, 1-3-0 Big South) have met eight times, with the Patriots holding a 7-1-0 advantage in the all-time series.
The Patriots and Highlanders are facing each other for the third straight season. Before the 2021 campaign, the two clubs hadn't met in 17 years going back to 2004.
All eight matches between the two clubs have been played at George Mason Stadium. The Patriots claimed each of the first five meetings by shutout and outscored the Highlanders by a combined 17-0 when the teams played five years in a row from 1981 to 1985.
The Patriots have posted wins over the Highlanders by scores of 1-0 (Sept. 25, 1981), 3-0 (Sept. 24, 1982), 6-0 (Sept. 23, 1983), 3-0 (Sept. 21, 1984), 4-0 (Sept. 20, 1985), 3-2 (Oct. 2, 2021) and 3-1 (Sept. 10, 2022).
Radford recorded its lone victory over Mason by a 2-1 score on Oct. 17, 2004.
In the last meeting between the two clubs, the Patriots defeated the Highlanders, 3-1, on Sept. 10, 2022 at George Mason Stadium. The victory was the first for
Rich Costanzo as head coach of the Patriots.
The Patriots tallied goals in the 27th, 46th (penalty kick) and 59th minute.
Mason outshot Radford, 16-6, including a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Highlanders had five corner kicks and the Patriots had four corner kicks in the match.
Last time out, the Patriots played to a 1-1 home draw against Dayton on Saturday. Sophomore midfielder
Nicholas Prioli scored the equalizer in the 75th minute of play.
Graduate student midfielder
Luis Maestre notched his A-10 leading seventh assist while senior midfielder
Henry Wachsman picked up his first assist of the season.
Mason junior goalkeeper
Jaume Salvado (3-5-3, 2-3-1 A-10) made one save in the match.
The Patriots outshot the Flyers, 12-8, including a 4-2 advantage in shots on goal. Each club finished with two corner kicks in the match.
Junior forward
Souley Diouf leads the club in goals (4), is tied for the team lead in points (9) and is second in shots (17) and shots on goal (7) in 11 games with 10 starts.
Sophomore midfielder
Asparuh Slavov is second on the team in goals (3) and points (7) in nine starts. He leads the team in shots (18) and shots on goal (10).
Maestre leads the team and is and is tied for first in the Atlantic 10 in assists (7) in 11 starts. He is also tied for first on the club in points (9).
Senior midfielder
Henry Wachsman (11 starts), freshman defender
Kelly Janssen (9 games/4 starts) and Prioli (10 games/3 starts) are tied for third on the club in goals (2).
Freshmen forwards
Davis Crittenden (8 games) and
Abdul Kamara (5 games) along with Maestre have each recorded one goal.
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
The Patriots have 12 returners and 17 newcomers on the roster heading into the 2023 season under second-year head coach
Rich Costanzo (Maryland, '08).
Assistant coaches
Noel Orozco (St. Bonaventure, '17) and
Michael Callahan (North Carolina, '08) also enter their second year with the Patriots.
Returning from last year's squad is graduate student goalkeeper
Jake Langley (Villanova, Pa.). Returning seniors include forward
Ishmail Kamara (Woodbridge, Va.), defender
Noah McGrath (Melbourne, Australia) and midfielders
Cameron Revels (Clover, S.C.) and
Henry Wachsman (Barrington, Ill.)
Returning juniors are defender
Ahmed Mohamed (Cairo, Egypt) and midfielder
Zach Golden (Morlboro, N.J.).
Mason has four returning sophomores on the roster with defenders
Eric Allen (Columbia, Md.),
Will Carson (Wheeling, W. Va.) and
Joshua Morrobel (Burke, Va.) and midfielder
Nicholas Prioli (Houston, Texas). Goalkeeper
Jack Desroches (Virginia Beach, Va.) returns for his redshirt-freshman campaign.
The Patriots added eight transfers during the offseason including graduate student midfielder
Luis Maestre (Elche, Spain). Three juniors made their way to Mason, with forward
Souley Diouf (Thies, Senegal), defender Javi Sanchez (Elche, Spain) and goalkeeper
Jaume Salvado (Barcelona, Spain) set for their first year with the Green and Gold.
The Patriots have four sophomore transfers with defender
Levi Stephens (Akron, Ohio), forward
Gabriel Silveira (Concordia, Brazil) and midfielders
Erick Kilosho (Roanoke, Va.) and
Asparuh Slavov (Easton, Pa.).
Eight freshmen enter their first year with the Patriots. Defenders
David Garcia (Woodbridge, Va.) and
Kelly Janssen (Sebastopol, Calif.), midfielders
James Eliuda (Juba, South Sudan),
Brent Fields (Alexandria, Va.) and
Anton Siren (Berlin, Germany), forwards
Abdul Kamara (Woodbridge, Va.) and
Davis Crittenden (Newport News, Va.) along with goalkeeper
Blake Moness (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
PATRIOTS SCHEDULE
The Patriots are scheduled to play 15 regular season games, a slate that includes eight matches against Atlantic 10 opponents and six games at George Mason Stadium.
Head coach
Rich Costanzo begins his second season after being named the Patriots' 11th men's soccer coach in program history last year.
The Green and Gold kicked off the regular season at home against UMBC on Aug. 24 (4-3 Retrievers) and played the first road match against Virginia on Aug. 31 (1-0 Cavaliers). Charlottesville.
Mason returned home to take on Old Dominion on Sept. 24 (2-2 draw). The Patriots traveled to battle Bucknell on Sept. 8 (0-0 draw) in Lewisburg, Pa.
The Patriots downed Navy, 4-0, for their first victory of the season on Sept. 11 at George Mason Stadium.
Mason dropped its Atlantic 10 Conference opener to Davidson on Sept. 16 (2-0 Wildcats) and fell at St. Bonaventure on Sept. 23 in the first A-10 road match of the season (2-0 Bonnies).
Mason will then alternate road and home games over a six-match span from Sept. 30 through Oct. 21.
The Patriots wrapped up the month of September on the road against La Salle on Sept. 30 (2-1 Explorers) in Philadelphia, Pa.
The Patriots posted their first conference victory of the season at home against Rhode Island on Oct. 4 (4-2 Patriots).
The match against the Rams was the first of seven that the Patriots are playing in October, with three at home and four on the road in the month.
Mason made the trek to Pittsburgh, Pa. to face Duquesne and blanked the Dukes on Oct. 7 (1-0 Patriots).
The Patriots returned home for a clash against Dayton and played to a 1-1 draw (Oct. 14).
The Patriots travel to face Radford (Oct. 17) in a non-conference matchup before returning to league play at home against in-state rival VCU (Oct. 21).
The Patriots will play their final two matches of the regular season on the road against Delaware (Oct. 24) and George Washington (Oct. 28).
Prior to the start of the regular season, Mason played two exhibition games. The Patriots traveled to Loyola on Aug. 12 (3-1 Greyhounds) and hosted Mount St. Mary's on Aug. 19 (3-0 Patriots).
Campus sites will host the Atlantic 10 tournament, with the first round scheduled for Nov. 5 and the final slated for Nov. 13.
SCOUTING RADFORD
Radford has a record of 1-9-2 including a mark of 1-3-0 against Big South opponents. The Highlanders are 1-3-1 at home and 0-6-1 on the road.
Last time out, Radford fell to UNC Asheville, 4-1, on Saturday in Asheville, N.C. Highlanders junior midfielder Alex Kryazhev scored for the third time in three games to account for the lone goal of the match for Radford.
The Bulldogs outshot the Highlanders, 15-6, including a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Each team had four corner kicks in the match.
Kryazhev leads the club in goals (4), points (10), shots (20) and shots on goal (15) in 12 games with 11 starts.
Sophomore defender Owen Clark (11 starts), junior forward Jared Dubose (8 games/2 starts) and sophomore defender James Gardev (9 games/7 starts) have each scored one goal this season.
Junior goalkeeper Alex Eydelman (1-7-2, 815 minutes) has started 10 matches with a 1.77 goals against average and .719 save percentage. He has made 41 saves and allowed 16 goals against.
Sophomore goalkeeper Bryceland Peacock (0-2-0, 219 minutes) has played four games with two starts with a 2.46 goals against average and .600 save percentage. He has made nine saves and allowed six goals against.
CORNER KICK
Mason and Radford have met eight times, with the Patriots leading the all-time series, 7-1-0, with every match played in Fairfax.
The Patriots and Highlanders were common opponents in the early 1980's, with the two schools facing each other five straight years from 1981 through 1985. Mason won all five of those games by shutout with the Patriots outscoring the Highlanders by a combined 17-0.
