George Washington University Athletics
GW Men's Soccer Set for Atlantic 10 Championship
11/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Nov. 11, 2015
WHO: GW Men's Soccer (10-7-0, 6-2-0 A-10)
WHAT: 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship | Championship Central | Bracket | Notes 
WHEN: Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 12-15, 2015
WHERE: George Mason Stadium, Fairfax, Va. | Directions
HOW: Live Stats | Live Video | @GWMensSoccer | Tickets
SETTING THE STAGE: The top-seeded GW men's soccer team will take on No. 8 seed VCU on Thursday morning in the first quarterfinals match of the Atlantic 10 Championship. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. The winner of Thursday's contest will face the winner of the No. 4 Fordham/No. 5 Massachusetts game in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.
GW AT THE A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP: GW returns to the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time since 2011 and is making its 12th appearance overall. The Colonials, who won their third A-10 regular-season title (1992, 2011), are the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1992 and the second time ever. GW is 5-7-3 in its previous 11 A-10 Championship appearances with league titles in 2002 and 2004.
In their last A-10 Championship appearance in 2011, the Colonials were the No. 2 seed and reached the title game following a 2-1 double-overtime victory over La Salle in the semifinals. GW tied Xavier, 1-1, in the championship contest, but the Musketeers advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3.
LAST TIME OUT: Junior Garrett Heine scored on a penalty kick in the 101st minute to propel GW to the A-10 regular-season title with a 1-0 double-overtime victory at Saint Louis on Saturday evening. Senior goalkeeper Jack Lopez recorded five saves in his third consecutive shutout.
FOR STARTERS: After starting the season 2-5, GW has won eight of its last 10 games dating back to a 4-1 home victory over Robert Morris on Sept. 25. The Colonials have outscored their opponents, 15-5, with six shutouts during that stretch.
GW has posted its first 10-win season since 2011 and has reached double digits in victories for the 15th time in program history. The Colonials last won more than 10 games in 2002 (13-9-0). The Colonials' six Atlantic 10 wins are their most since then went 7-2-0 in 2011.
A CINDERELLA STORY: GW missed the Atlantic 10 Championship in each of the last three seasons and was picked to finish 10th in the 2015 A-10 preseason poll but surprised the league by finishing first with a 6-2-0 record and 18 points in the standings.
TAKING HOME THE HARDWARE: Head coach Craig Jones was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year on Wednesday to headline GW's postseason honorees. Heine was selected to the A-10 All-Conference First Team, while Lopez, junior defender Tobi Adewole and sophomore forward Christian Lawal were all tabbed to the Second Team. In addition, graduate student Matthew Scott and junior Sam Summerlin were both recognized on the All-Academic Team.
HEINE'S HEROICS: Heine's nine goals and 22 points this season are the most since Yoni Berhanu tallied 11 and 26 in 2011. He ranks third in the A-10 in goals and goals per game (0.50) and fourth in points and points per game (1.29). In addition, Heine has scored a league-high six game-winning goals this season, ranking fifth nationally.
GOOSE EGGS: GW's 1-0 win over Saint Louis on Saturday was its seventh shutout of the season and fifth in A-10 play, tied for the most clean sheets in the league both overall and in conference action. The Colonials have allowed a league-low four goals in eight A-10 games for a conference-best 0.48 goals-against average in A-10 play.
Lopez has allowed just two goals in 656:11 of action spanning seven A-10 contests. He leads the league with a 0.27 goals-against average and .923 save percentage against conference opponents. Lopez's five solo shutouts this season are the most by a Colonial since Derek Biss had six in 2004.
BEST SINCE '11: It's no coincidence that GW is making its first A-10 Championship appearance in four years -- the Colonials have posted some numbers that are the best since 2011, including total goals (22) and shutouts (7).
IN THE RANKINGS: Three days after defeating Saint Louis to clinch the A-10 regular-season title, GW cracked the NSCAA regional poll on Tuesday, coming in at No. 10 in the Midwest. The Colonials are ranked regionally for the first time since the final poll of the 2011 season, when they were slotted fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
HELPING HAND: Sophomore Koby Osei-Wusu is tied for fourth in the A-10 with five assists and tied for second with 0.33 assists per game. Moreover, his four assists and 0.50 assists per game in A-10 play rank second in the league. Three of Osei-Wusu's five assists this season have been on game-winning goals.
ELDER STATESMAN: Scott is the lone player remaining from GW's 2011 Atlantic 10 regular-season championship squad. Scott was a freshman on that team and earned A-10 All-Rookie honors but missed his entire sophomore season due to injury. He returned to the Colonials' lineup in 2013 and has been a key member of GW's defense for the last three seasons.
"I'm sure he is reinforcing what the staff has been telling the players about not looking ahead and staying focused on the first game and no more," said Coach Jones. "I'm sure there will be some jitters, but we played in some big games this year so we have prepared for this moment."
SCOUTING THE RAMS: VCU (5-9-4, 3-2-3 A-10) is the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship. The Rams rallied for a 3-2 victory at Dayton on Saturday to earn the final spot in the conference tournament. VCU trailed by two goals with just over five minutes to play but scored twice in a two-minute span to force overtime, and Jorge Herranz tallied the game-winner in the 96th minute to complete the comeback.
Dennis Castillo was named Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday, while Rafael Andrade Santos was tabbed to the All-Conference Second Team and Lyndsey Moreland picked up All-Rookie honors. Santos leads VCU with eight points (3g, 2a) and is one of four Rams with three goals apiece. Goalkeeper Pierre Cardan has posted a 1.00 goals-against average and .746 save percentage, ranking fifth in the A-10 in both categories, and his six shutouts are second-most in the conference.
COACH JONES ON VCU: "One thing that was reinforced from playing them recently is that this is a very good group of players on both sides of the ball. We have to match their intensity and when we do have the ball try and create some good scoring opportunities and make big plays when we need to."
SERIES HISTORY: GW will rematch with VCU in Thursday's quarterfinals after the Colonials defeated the Rams, 1-0, in overtime on Oct. 24 in Richmond for GW's first-ever win over VCU. The Rams now lead the all-time series, 1-4-0, including 2-1-0 as A-10 rivals.
GW VS. THE FIELD: GW is 3-1-0 against the rest of the Atlantic 10 Championship field with wins over No. 3 Saint Louis (1-0, 2OT, Nov. 7), No. 5 Massachusetts (2-0, Oct. 31) and No. 8 VCU (1-0, OT, Oct. 24) and a loss to No. 6 Rhode Island (1-0, Oct. 17). The Colonials did not face No. 2 Dayton, No. 4 Fordham or No. 7 Duquesne in 2015.
