MEN'S SOCCER at Loyola University Chicago
WHEN: Saturday, September 27 | 4 p.m.
WHERE: Chicago, Ill. | Loyola Soccer Park
RECORDS: George Mason (3-3-1, 0-0-1 Atlantic 10); Loyola University Chicago (3-2-3, 1-0-0 Atlantic 10)                                                                                                                              LAST MEETING: The Patriots defeated the Ramblers, 2-1, on Oct. 9, 2024 at George Mason Stadium.
ALL-TIME SERIES: George Mason leads, 1-0-0
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: Click Here

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FAIRFAX, Va. – The 25th ranked George Mason men's soccer team is on the road for Atlantic 10 Conference play against Loyola Chicago on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. at Loyola Soccer Park in Chicago, Ill.

George Mason (3-3-1, 0-0-1 Atlantic 10) and Loyola University Chicago (3-2-3, 1-0-0 Atlantic 10) have met only once.  Last season when the Patriots were ranked 13th in the nation, they won the first-ever meeting against the Ramblers, 2-1, on Oct. 9, 2024 at George Mason Stadium.
 
The Patriots outshot the Ramblers, 15-9, including a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal.  Graduate student defender Leo Lemoine scored the equalizer in the 67th minute.  Then, senior defender Javi Sánchez scored the eventual game-winner with a header in the 73rd minute.  Goalkeeper Jack Desroches earned his first collegiate win in his NCAA debut.  
 
Last time out, the Patriots dropped their home match against Georgetown, 5-2, on Tuesday.  Junior forward Kelly Janssen recorded the second two-goal game of his career, both have been at George Mason Stadium.  Janssen (46 minutes) took three shots and scored with both of his shots on goal.

The Patriots lead the Atlantic 10 in goals scored (16) and goals per game (2.28).  Sophomore forward Martim Sereno leads the A-10 in points (9), is tied for second in goals (4), tied for the second-most shots on goal (9), eighth in shots per game (2.43), and is 10th in the league in shots (17) in seven games. 

Graduate student forward Jacobo Sanfeliu is tied for second in the conference in goals (4), ranks second in points (8).  Sereno (1.29) and Sanfeliu (1.14) lead the A-10 in points per game.  

The Patriots have three players ranked in the top 10 in the league in assists.  Graduate student midfielder Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez is tied for second-most  (4), graduate student defender Jordi Navio Sanchez and junior midfielder James Eliuda are tied for the third-most (3) in the conference. 

Graduate student goalkeeper Jaume Salvado leads the A-10 in saves per game (5.14) and is second in total saves (36).
 
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 is in his fourth season with the Patriots and is two wins shy of 25 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 to the 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 finished the 2024 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 LOYOLA CHICAGO

Loyola Chicago has an overall record of 3-2-3 including a mark of 1-0-0 in Atlantic 10 play.  The Ramblers are 1-1-2 at home and 2-1-1 on the road.

The Ramblers opened their season with a two match homestand with a 3-2 victory over Oakland (Aug. 21) followed by a 0-0 draw against Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 24).  They then played to a 1-1 draw on the road against Big Ten team Northwestern (Aug. 29).

The Ramblers began a two match homestand with 2-2 draw against Wright State (Sept. 4).  Loyola Chicago has alternated wins and losses over the last four matches.  The Ramblers dropped a 2-1 decision to Big East team DePaul (Sept. 7), defeated SIUE (Sept. 11) with a 2-1 victory on the road and fell 3-1 at home to UIC (Sept. 15) 3-1.  In their A-10 opener, the Ramblers earned a 2-1 victory on the road against Rhode Island (Sept. 20).

Freshman forward Antonio Pinto leads the team in goals (4) and points (8), is second on shots (13), and is tied for second in shots on goal (5) in eight games played.  Sophomore midfielder Luka Ivancic is tied for second for the club in goals and assists (2), and is second in points (6) in eight games played.  He scored the game-winner against Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 opener.

Junior Goalkeeper Gabe Velasco (2-1-2, 1.22 GAA, .727%, 1 SHO) has started 5 games.  He has made 16 saves and allowed six goals against.  Redshirt junior goalkeeper Aidan Crawford (1-1-1, 2.00 GAA, .700%) has started three games.  He has made 14 saves and allowed six goals against.

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 defeated Bucknell (Sept. 2) 3-2.  Junior midfielder Brent Fields scored his first career goal, the game-winner in the 90th minute of play.  Sophomore midfielder Martim Sereno scored his third goal, while graduate student Jacobo Sanfeliu tallied his second goal of the season.

George Mason fell to No. 6 West Virginia, 6-4 (Sept. 7.) Graduate student forward Jacobo Sanfeliu converted a penalty kick in the 30th minute for his third goal, sophomore forward Martim Sereno netted his fourth goal of the year in the 31st minute, graduate student forward Nacho Diaz Barragan scored his first goal with the Green and Gold in the 67th minute when he converted the penalty kick and junior forward Abdul Kamara tallied his first goal of the season in the 81st minute.

In the first Atlantic 10 match of the season, the Patriots played to a 1-1 home draw with Davidson (Sept. 12). Graduate student forward Nacho Diaz Barragan scored late in the second half, while graduate student goalkeeper Jaume Salvado stopped a penalty kick in the second half as part of a four save performance.

George Mason blanked UMBC, 1-0 (Sept. 20) at Retriever Soccer Park in Baltimore, Md.  Graduate student forward Jacobo Sanfeliu scored his fourth goal of the season in the 18th minute of play for his first game winning goal in a Patriots uniform.

George Mason dropped their last home match to Georgetown, 5-2 (Sept. 23).  Junior forward Kelly Janssen scored in the 38th and 44th minute to recorded the second two-goal game of his career, both at George Mason Stadium.

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, 4 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.  The Patriots 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