MEN'S SOCCER vs. BUCKNELL
WHEN: Tuesday, September 2 | 7:15 p.m.
WHERE: Fairfax, Va. | George Mason Stadium
RECORDS: George Mason (1-1-0); Bucknell (2-0-1)
LAST MEETING: The Patriots defeated the Bison, 1-0, last season on Sept. 3, 2024 at George Mason Stadium.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Series tied, 1-1-2
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: GoMason.com
TICKETS: Tickets for the 2025 George Mason Men's Soccer season are on sale. All regular season home games will require a ticket for entry. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under as well as George Mason faculty/staff. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 703-993-3270, or at the George Mason Stadium Gate on game day. Discounted rates and special experiences are available for groups of 15 or more. More information on Men's Soccer tickets can be found here

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FAIRFAX, Va. – The 22nd ranked George Mason men's soccer team hosts Bucknell on Tuesday, Sept. 2, with the opening kick scheduled for 7:15 at George Mason Stadium.

The Patriots are ranked 22nd in the nation in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and 23rd in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll, announced on Tuesday afternoon.  
 
Last time out, the Patriots defeated No. 11 Virginia, 4-1, in the home opener last Thursday in front of a crowd of 3,077.
 
George Mason sophomore forward Martim Sereno scored twice for his first career two-goal game, while junior midfielder James Eliuda netted his first goal of the season and graduate student midfielder Jacobo Sanfeliu tallied his first goal as a Patriot.
 
Graduate student midfielder Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez notched his first two assists with the Patriots, while junior forward Kelly Janssen, junior midfielder Javier Montava, senior midfielder Mouhamed Tucker and Eliuda each picked up an assist in the match.
 
Graduate student goalkeeper Jaume Salvado made six saves in the match against the Cavaliers, including four in the second half.

The victory marked the highest-ranked win by the Patriots in 14 years and the second-highest seeded team that George Mason has beaten since they took down No. 2 Maryland on September 29, 2009.  The win is the seventh win over a top-20 team in program history.

The crowd of 3,077 marked the largest for a George Mason men's soccer match in 25 years.  The 1,385 students in attendance set a new program record.
 
George Mason is facing Bucknell for the third straight year.  The Patriots defeated the Bison last season, 1-0, on Sept. 3, 2024 at George Mason Stadium.

The two clubs played to a 0-0 draw on Sept. 8, 2023 at Holmes Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa. and a 1-1 draw on Sept. 24, 2019 at George Mason Stadium.  In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, George Mason fell to the Bison, 1-0, in overtime in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. 

Through two matches, Sereno leads the Patriots with two goals and four points.  He recorded 10 points last season on two goals and six assists.  Eliuda has posted three points on a goal and an assist.  He had nine points last season with two goals and five assists.

The Patriots were predicted to finish second in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll as voted on by the league's head coaches.  Graduate student defender Javi Sánchez, junior midfielder James Eliuda and sophomore forward Martim Sereno were selected to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
Head coach Rich Costanzo enters his fourth season with the Patriots.  He was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year last season after leading the Patriots to one of the most successful regular seasons in program history. 
 
Costanzo guided the club Atlantic 10 regular season title for the first time in program history in 2024.  The Patriots finished the season 13-4-1 overall, won seven of eight matches at home in the regular season, went 6-1-1 in conference play to post six wins in the A-10 regular season for the first time, and after earning the top-seed in the A-10 Championship, advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
                                                                   
The Patriots climbed to 13th in the United Soccer Coaches Association poll last season, the first time in 10 years that George Mason has been in the national rankings.  The Patriots finished the A-10 regular season third in both goals (33) and goals per match (2.2) and tied for the third-fewest goals allowed (17).
 
SCOUTING BUCKNELL
 
Bucknell is 2-0-1 in its first three matches of the season.  The Bison are 1-0-0 at home and 1-0-1 on the road.
 
The Bison began the season with a road victory over then-No.23 Hofstra, 2-1, on August 21 and then defeated St. Bonaventure, 3-2, in their home opener on August 24.
 
Last time out, Bucknell erased a two-goal deficit at Maryland on Saturday, scoring a goal late in the first half and senior defender Ben Sheffield netted the equalizer in the 86th minute for a 2-2 draw with the Terrapins.
 
The Terrapins outshot the Bison 16-6, including a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.  Maryland earned six corner kicks while Bucknell had two corner kicks in the match.
 
Bucknell received one vote in last week's United Soccer Coaches rankings and was ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region Poll.
 
The Bison have trailed at some point in all three of their matches and have scored in the final 16 minutes of play in each game.
 
Last season, Bucknell finished as the 2024 regular season co-champion with Boston University and then captured its first Patriot League title in 10 years with a 3-0 win over Colgate in the tournament championship match.  The Bison fell at No. 25 Providence, 2-1, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  Bucknell surrendered only 21 goals in 20 games last season and ranked 36th in the nation in goals allowed per game (1.03).
 
Senior goalkeeper Freddie Lapworth was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, First Team All-Patriot League and First Team All-Region last season.  He posted eight clean sheets and was 29th in the nation with a .774 save percentage.
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
 
The Patriots have 14 returners and 13 newcomers on the roster heading into the 2025 season under fourth-year head coach Rich Costanzo (Maryland, '08).
 
Assistant coaches Noel Orozco (St. Bonaventure, '17) and Michael Callahan (North Carolina, '08) also enter their fourth year with the Patriots.
 
Graduate students returning from last year's squad are defenders Leo Lemoine (Pau, France), Javi Sánchez (Elche, Spain) and Jordi Navio Sanchez (Vallirana, Spain) along with goalkeeper Jaume Salvado (Barcelona, Spain). 
 
Returning for his senior junior year is defender Will Carson (Wheeling, W.Va.). 
 
Junior returners include goalkeeper Jack Desroches (Virginia Beach, Va.), defender David Garcia (Woodbridge, Va.), midfielders James Eliuda (Juba, South Sudan), Brent Fields (Alexandria, Va.), Quentin Clain (Villiers le Bel, France) and Javier Montava (Alcoy, Spain) along with forwards Abdul Kamara (Woodbridge, Va.) and Kelly Janssen (Sebastopol, Calif.).  
 
Forward Martim Sereno (Mira de Aire, Portugal) enters his sophomore season.
 
The Patriots added eight transfers during the offseason.  Graduate students entering their first year with the Patriots are goalkeeper Fernando Carreon Garcia (Saltillo, Mexico), defender Elijah Jackson (Summerfield, N.C.), midfielders Sergio Fernandez (Villanueva del Pardillo, Spain) and Kenzo Brito (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and forwards Jacobo Sanfeliu (Barcelona, Spain) and Nacho Diaz Barragan (al Maria, Spain).
 
Senior midfielder Mouhamed Tucker (Dakar, Senegal) and junior defender Yannick Mambo (Kinshasa, Congo) also enter their first year at George Mason.
 
Five freshmen enter their first year with the Patriots.  Forward Cristian Ramos (Lorton, Va.), midfielders John Balkey (Leesburg, Va.) and Alen Kapetanovic (Nyack, N.Y.), and forwards Tresz McLeod (Wheeling, W.Va.) and Jaime Godinho (Lisbon, Portugal).
 
PATRIOTS SCHEDULE
 
The George Mason is scheduled to play 15 regular season games, a slate that includes four matches against College Cup teams, eight matches against Atlantic 10 opponents and eight games at George Mason Stadium.
 
Head coach Rich Costanzo begins his fourth season.  He guided the Patriots to a 13-4-1 overall record last season and a 6-1-1 mark in conference play to claim the first-ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season title in program history.  George Mason recorded six A-10 wins in the regular season for the first time since joining the league in 2013.
 
In the regular season, George Mason will play two matches in August, six in September and October and one in November.
 
The Patriots played a pair of exhibition matches, facing Maryland on the road (Aug. 9,) and Pittsburgh at George Mason Stadium (Aug. 15).
 
The Green and Gold kicked off the regular season on the road and fell to #2 Marshall (Aug. 22), 2-1, in Huntington, W.Va.
 
The Patriots defeated No. 11 Virginia (Aug. 28) in their home opener, 4-1.  George Mason sophomore forward Martim Sereno scored twice for his first career two-goal game, while junior midfielder James Eliuda netted his first goal of the season and graduate student midfielder Jacobo Sanfeliu scored his first goal as a Patriot.

The victory marked the highest-ranked win by the Patriots in 14 years and the second-highest seeded team that George Mason has beaten since they took down No. 2 Maryland on September 29, 2009.  The win is the seventh win over a top-20 team in program history.

The crowd of 3,077 marked the largest for a George Mason men's soccer match in 25 years.  The 1,385 students in attendance set a new program record.
 
The Patriots continue their season-high, four-match homestand against non-conference opponents, hosting Bucknell (Sept. 2, 7 p.m.) and West Virginia (Sept. 7, 5 p.m.).  George Mason then hosts Davidson for the first Atlantic 10 match of the season (Sept. 12, 7 p.m.).
 
George Mason then plays two non-conference matches.  The Patriots are on the road against UMBC (Sept. 20, 7 p.m.) in Baltimore, Md. and then back home to take on Georgetown (Sept. 23, 7 p.m.).
 
The Patriots will play two straight games on the road for the only time during the season when they travel to face Loyola-Chicago (Sept. 27, 7 p.m.) in Chicago, Ill. to close out the six games in the month of September.  George Mason will make the trip to George Washington (Oct. 4, 7 p.m.) in Washington, D.C. to begin the six-game October slate.
 
George Mason will alternate home and road games over the final six matches of the season.
The Patriots are home to battle in-state rival VCU (Oct. 8, 7 p.m.) before going on the road to face St. Bonaventure (Oct. 11, 7 p.m.) in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
 
The Patriots return to George Mason Stadium to tangle with La Salle (Oct. 18, 7 p.m.) and travel for a non-conference matchup against William & Mary (Oct. 21, 7 p.m.) in Williamsburg, Va.
 
George Mason returns to league play with the final home match of the regular season against Saint Joseph's (Oct. 25, 7 p.m.).
 
The Patriots wrap up the regular season on the road against Duquesne (Nov. 1, 7 p.m.) in Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
 
Tickets for the 2025 George Mason Men's Soccer season are on sale. All regular season home games will require a ticket for entry. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under as well as George Mason faculty/staff. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 703-993-3270, or at the George Mason Stadium Gate on game day. Discounted rates and special experiences are available for groups of 15 or more. More information on Men's Soccer tickets can be found here
 
CORNER KICK
 
George Mason and Bucknell have met four times, with the all-time series tied 1-1-2.  The Patriots defeated the Bison last season, 1-0, on Sept. 3, 2024 at George Mason Stadium.

The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 24, 2019 at George Mason Stadium and a 0-0 draw on Sept. 8, 2023 at Holmes Stadium in Lewisburg, Pa.

In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, George Mason fell to the Bison, 1-0, in overtime in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. 

George Mason has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 11 times in program history.  The Patriots made the tournament for the first time in 1982 and after a bye in the first round, Mason defeated Virginia, 1-0, for the first-ever NCAA tournament win in program history.