Former Columbus Crew coach Greg Andrulis has transformed George Mason, the hottest Division I men’s team in the country.
With 1-0 wins over Delaware and Drexel last weekend, the Patriots ran their winning streak to nine games, the longest in the Division I ranks.
After five years as a Crew assistant and five years as its head coach, Andrulis was fired in the middle of the 2005 MLS season. The good news for Andrulis was he was only out of a job for five weeks when he was hired to fill the GMU job left vacant by Fran O’Leary‘s sudden departure to Division III Bowdoin. The bad news was that he no time to prepare for the 2005 season.
“I didn’t know where the locker room was,” he told the Washington Post of his first preseason practice. “I got here at 8:30 in the morning, I met the guys at 9, we were on the field at 9:30. It was a whirlwind.”
GMU went 7-7-4 and didn’t reach the CAA Tournament, but with a full offseason Andrulis brought in several transfers and freshmen who have helped the Patriots move into the lead in the tough CAA with a 6-0-0 record.
Newcomers are playing key roles. Midfielder Richard Edgar, who spent five semesters in residency with the U.S. U-17s, is the best known of the Andrulis’ recruits. Freshman Sean Kelley, one of the best goalkeeping prospects ever to come out of Kentucky, has eight shutouts in 12 games. Chris Carroll, a sophomore transfer from St. John’s, leads GMU with four goals. Defenders Fabien Lewis and Michael Vallie transferred from Maryland and Canisius, respectively.
GMU (10-2-0 overall) faces its toughest test of the season Friday when it travels to No. 16 Old Dominion. The Monarchs are tied for third in the CAA with James Madison at 3-1-1 behind Mason and Towson in second place at 4-0-1. The Patriots face JMU Oct. 22 and Towson Oct. 27 at home.