Aug. 29, 2008

Washington, D.C. - To say that the coaching staff and players on the Georgetown men's soccer team are excited to start the 2008 season would be an understatement. After a strong finish to the 2007 season, third-year Head Coach Brian Wiese and his team have had to wait a year to try and pick up where they left off.

The Hoyas get to do just that on Friday night, when they face host Cal State-Northridge in the first round of the Matadors' tournament. Georgetown kicks off its 2008 season at 7:30 p.m. ET at Matador Field. The first game of the tournament features Cal State-Fullerton and Alabama A&M.

"I'd say it's understatement to say we're excited," Wiese said. "As a staff, we're really interested to see how much progress we've made since last year. It's been 12 months of hard work to see how we're doing. The players are ready to play. This is where the rubber meets the road. They're just excited to get out and get playing."

Georgetown finished the 2007 season with a 7-11-1 record, including a 5-5-1 mark in BIG EAST play. Wiese and his team hope the Hoyas pick up where they left off last year, winning four of their last six matches before falling in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament.

In order to so, the team hit the road early on Thursday morning and traveled cross country to California where they will face the Matadors, who went 7-7-6 last season. In the second round of the tournament, the Hoyas will face Cal State Fullerton.

"It is a long way, but we had a good flight and we left ourselves time to rest up and get ready for Friday," Wiese said. "The bigger challenge is going to be playing two very good teams on the road and in their environment. It's very hot out here and Friday is supposed to be the same. Doing it on a Friday-Sunday format will test our fitness and depth. There are a couple of things that we'll find out about our team right away."

Cal State Northridge returns nine starters and 16 letterwinners from last season's team, making them one of the most experienced teams in the Big West Conference.

"We know some of the players from the recruiting process and from what we've heard about the history of Northridge and we know they have a good background," Wiese said. "We haven't looked too much to Fullerton yet, but Northridge is a team that is very capable of being in the NCAA Tournament this year."

After a pair of preseason scrimmages - first at James Madison and then a 4-0 win at home against George Mason - Wiese feels his team is ready to start the season.

Sophomore midfielder Seth C'deBaca (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia Prep) scored two goals in the Mason win and junior midfielder Scott Larrabee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Loyola) added a goal and two assists to lead the scoring.

"I think the fact that we're looking more like a team as far as understanding the roles will help us," Wiese said. "We're a year older, a year more mature. I look at our guys and don't think we're a young team, even though we do have a huge number of underclassmen. The older boys know what they're doing and the sophomores have a good year of playing under their belts. There is a good overall team concept and we feel that we can get good production all over the field."