Softball and men’s soccer will need to wait a few more days to kick off their 2020-21 seasons after their season openers Sunday and Saturday, respectively, were postponed, according to releases.
Inclement weather shut down men’s soccer’s road matchup with UMBC and softball’s road trip across the District to Howard. Both games were the only contests listed on each team’s schedules, and details on upcoming games are forthcoming, according to the releases.
Softball is looking to play a full season after the 2020 campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The squad returns 14 players from last season’s team, including graduate student trio utility Jessica Linquist, infielder Jenna Cone and utility Faith Weber, who took advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA.
The Colonials will also have redshirt junior utility player Sierra Lange back in the rotation after she missed the entirety of the 2020 season with an injury. Lange ranks second all-time in career earned run average (2.97), wins (46) and strikeouts (360). She and Weber are tied for first in career saves with four.
The team added seven freshmen and two graduate students to the mix to round out a squad looking to win a second conference championship since GW collected a share of the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2019.
GW was selected to finish first in the A-10 preseason poll. The team received 93 points and four first-place votes. Fordham, who the Colonials shared a portion of the 2019 A-10 Championship with, finished second with 92 points and five first-place votes.
Head coach Shane Winkler said in a September interview that 17 members of his team arrived in Foggy Bottom to train for the fall semester.
Men’s soccer will play its season in the spring after the A-10 postponed all fall sports amid the ongoing pandemic. The squad returns 13 members of last season’s roster, and 12 members will see the field for the first time this year. Of the dozen new members, three walked onto the team for the 2020 season, three transferred into the program and six are freshmen.
GW will have senior forward Oscar Haynes Brown back in the lineup after he played in just one game last season due to injury. Haynes Brown led the team with 11 goals in 2018 and earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team.
Junior midfielder Grant Barrientos will also be back on the field after missing the entire 2019 campaign. He notched 11 starts and 838 minutes during his freshman campaign.
The Colonials were picked to finish No. 11 of 13 teams in the A-10 preseason poll, receiving 60 points. The squad ended the year just outside playoff contention with a 3-5-0 conference record and a 5-11-1 overall record.
Head coach Craig Jones said in a September interview 16 members of the squad returned to campus in the fall to train.
