Mason Soccer Marches to Regional Finals

(Photos by Tracy Back)

By DAVE WITZEL
Falls Church Times Staff

June 2, 2010

George Mason High Schools Boys and Girls soccer teams won decisive victories tonight earning themselves spots in the Virginia Region B Finals. The Boys defeated Altavista 6 to 1 while the Girls overwhelmed Central High of Woodstock VA 10 to 0.

Both teams will play in Regional Finals games on Friday night June 4th, at locations to be announced.

George Mason Boys Soccer Finishes Season Undefeated

Mustangs forward Jordan Robarge (19) takes a shot while Andrew Arias (10) closes in.
 (Photos by Tracy Back)

By DAVE WITZEL
Falls Church Times Staff

May 20, 2010

With a 7 to 2 victory over Manassas Park on Tuesday the Mustang Boys soccer team completed a perfect 10-0-0 season in Bull Run District play. The Mustangs also defeated Rappahannock County 4 to nil on Monday in a rescheduled game.

The Mustangs are the top seed in the Bull Run District Tournament and will play the winner of Madison County/Strasburg at George Mason on Monday at 8 p.m. Read more

GM Soccer Continues Winning Ways

GM’s Nick Smirniotopoulos battles for the ball

By DAVE WITZEL
Falls Church Times Staff
Photo by BRAD MILLS

May 6, 2010

George Mason’s Varsity Boys soccer team continued its winning ways with a three to zero defeat of rival Clarke County. This followed their 2-0 victory at Manassas Park High last week and keeps them undefeated for the season.

Likewise, Girl’s Varsity avenged an earlier loss defeating Clarke County (3-0) and handily dispatching Manassas Park High 8 to 0 in a pair of home games.

The Boys JV team rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Manassas Park High with a 2-0 victory over Clarke County.

Girls JV fought Clarke County to a nil-nil tie while their game against Manassas Park High was canceled.

The Boy’s teams will play at Madison County Friday while the Girls will meet Madison County at the George Mason field (5:30 p.m for JV and 7 p.m. for Varsity). Be sure to come out and support the teams.

SATURDAY 5/1: Corneal Dystrophy Support Group Meeting

The Corneal Dystrophy Support Group will meet May 1 at 11:30 a.m. at Anthony’s Restaurant, 309 W. Broad Street, to share information and experiences relating to corneal dystrophy, especially Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy, and related corrective surgery. The only cost is for the food you order. For questions or to reserve a place at the luncheon, call 866-969-8880 ext 1 or email nova@cornealdystrophyfoundation.org. For more information about corneal dystrophy, consult http://www.cornealdystrophyfoundation.org/.

Mustang Boys Soccer Teams Defeat Essex

April 13, 2010

George Mason’s boys soccer teams handily handled Essex High School of Tappahannock on Friday, April 9. Varsity won 11-1 to remain undefeated for the season. In the early show, the JV team posted a 9-2 victory.

In the photo Varsity’s Eion Oosterbaan challenges for the ball while Alex Casteuble guards the flank.

GM Boys soccer has two home games this week with rival Clark County coming to town tonight (April 13) followed by Madison County on Friday, April 16 (JV games at 5:30 p.m. followed by Varsity at 7 p.m.)

Thanks to Tracy Back for the photo.

SATURDAY, 3/27: Celtic Music at Cherry Hill

Enjoy a lively evening of Irish music by the band Poirt O’ Call in the intimate atmosphere of the historic Cherry Hill Farmhouse, 312 Park Avenue at 8 p.m. on March 27, 2010.

Advanced purchase tickets are available at the Community Center, 223 Little Falls for $12. Tickets at the door will be $14. Call 703-248-5171 for more information.

GM Girls Basketball State Finals Televised

March 13, 2010

Make sure to watch the Lady Mustangs take on Lancaster today in the Virginia state Group A Division 2 Girls Basketball finals.  The George Mason team defeated Chilhowie 54-42 to earn a repeat berth in the finals.

The game will be broadcast on WDCW/DC50 at 3pm today.

Anyone have pictures of the playoff games they can share?

OPINION: Stories I’d Like to See in the Falls Church Times

By DAVE WITZEL
Falls Church Times Staff

February 27, 2010

I’m really proud of the work the all-volunteer Falls Church Times team has done. What started out as a civic experiment has become a thriving, valuable enterprise. During the past two months our volunteers have been posting an average of four articles per day. Sometime this week someone on the team will prepare our 1,000th article. This is remarkable production.

That said, I can’t help but wish we were doing more. It would be great to have more volunteers and contributors to broaden and deepen our coverage.

Here’s a few examples of stories I would love to read in the Falls Church Times.

Business

Big Games in the Little City. We have at least three games/comics stores nearby (Compleat Strategist, Anime Pavilion, and the just-opened Victory Comics). This seems like a lot of comics per-capita. Are we #1 in the nation? Do Falls Churchers really like games?  Are we kind of Silicon Valley for gaming?

2nd Hand Falls Church. We have a great set of used-stuff stores in town. We have used CDs (CD Cellar), books (Hole in the Wall Books), clothes (Second Chance, New to You, Rosalin’s Bridal Boutique), and bikes (Bike Club), not to mention antique stores including Falls Church Antique Annex and Olde Habits‎. What else should be on this list? Any particular treasures the community should know about? How can we make or save money (and waste less)?

Sports

Can GM Ladies Basketball Re-peat? The GM’s Girls Basketball team is in the regional play-offs. How are they doing? Who are they playing and when? And, most of all, can we get some action photos and video!

Falls Church Rec Basketball Celebrates XX Years. The Community Center’s annual recreational basketball leagues is one of the grand traditions of Falls Church. How many kids participate in it? How long has it been going on? Who are the personalities that keep it going?

City Hall

Budget, Budget, Budget. You may have heard that Falls Church is facing some budget difficulties. What’s more, this is a problem that won’t go away any time soon. We’ll be wrestling with budgets for years into the future. So what do we need to know to make intelligent choices about changing services, raising taxes, finding new revenue sources? Our budget has increased a lot over the last 5 years – where did we spend the money? How do other cities our size spend their money? Is our mix dramatically different? What tools should we have to do analysis and decision-making? Can the Falls Church Times help provide any of those tools?

Mass Transit Planning and Falls Church. Okay, while we don’t exactly have a metro stop in the city, we do have two of them named after us. And Metro and other area mass transit matters to us. So what’s going on? What’s going to happen to budgets and fares? What about traffic and business opportunities from the new lines that are planned? Do we have the right bus routes? Should we jump on Arlington’s trolley? What about walkability – are we good and how can we get better?

Around Town

There’s Music in the Air. I enjoyed this week’s focus on music in the Falls Church News Press including the article about Sunday’s Wammies. Falls Church has wonderful music venues including The State, Bangkok Blues, and Claire and Don’s. We host amazing events like the Wammies but also the Tinner Hill Blues Festival and the summer music series at Cherry Hill Park. We have delightful school and community groups. There are great shows in town regularly. But what’s coming up? What did we miss? Where’s the Falls Church Times music reviewer to complement our amazing food reviewer?

Falls Church Makes a Difference. One of the many exciting things about this town is its reach -people in this city have local focus and national and international impact. Opportunities to contribute range from supporting the schools and the library to helping in Haiti. What are they? What have we accomplished? Who is leading the charge?

That’s the beginning of my list. What stories do you want to read? Please make suggestions in the comments below.  Which ones are you willing to write? Would you contribute photos or video of events you are attending?  How about reporting sports scores and results?  If you’d like to pitch-in, please let me know.

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