Men’s soccer opens their regular season Thursday, looking to eclipse a .500 record for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
The Revs will return to their home turf at 1 p.m. to take on Old Dominion University with a largely reshaped team after announcing five new additions to the roster in June. The recruits will fill the places of several key players including William Turner, who led the team with four goals in his graduate year.
Last season, GW scored 17 goals throughout 17 total games, which ranked 13 out of 14 Atlantic 10 teams in scoring. On the defensive end, they allowed 33 goals throughout the season, the most of any of the A-10 teams.
The team welcomes new players at forward, midfield and defense, introducing new talent up and down the field.
Four of these players are first-years, with forward Louis Crofts and midfielder Finn Roberts hailing from the United Kingdom while defenders Jake Hobbs and Jake Poole join the Revs from California.
The sole transfer, sophomore Jaden Dubon, comes to GW from Corban University, where he scored seven goals in 21 games in his first season.
The Revs return to play with an addition to their coaching staff after officials hired Nick Conklu as an assistant coach in July. The DMV-raised Conklu was a volunteer assistant and goalkeeper coach at the Division II University of the District of Columbia last season. His expertise with goalies could bolster the team’s improvements in goalkeeping, after the Revs ranked last in save percentage last season at .616.
“The university’s mission and purpose, and the GW Athletics’ core values connect with who I am as a person and coach, and I look forward to contributing to the program and making a positive impact,” Conklu said in the GW release this summer.
After an exhibition game against Division III University of Mary Washington on Sunday, the team embarks on an early season schedule of three home games and three away games over a month, including an Aug. 30 bout against West Virginia University, whom the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll ranked third nationally.
GW faces its first A-10 opponent Sep. 21 when they take on Duquesne at home. They’ll face reigning A-10 champions Dayton in Ohio on Oct. 5. The regular season will wrap up Nov 2. when the Revs welcome La Salle to their home field. GW picked up their first conference victory last season against La Salle when they clinched a 1-0 victory at home in their penultimate game. The Revs won their last game against George Mason last season to finish the year with a 2-5-1 conference record.
The team’s mini winning streak to end the season came just weeks after a scoreless six-game stretch through September. The Revs broke the streak with a 1-1 draw against St. Bonaventure in October after graduate student midfielder Nacho Alastuey knocked in a penalty kick.
The team will compete to return to the A-10 championships for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when they beat Dayton to make it to the second round.
