July 12, 2005

FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason University second-year head coach Diane Drake announced Tuesday the addition of Robert E. Liessem, Jr. as an assistant to the women's soccer staff. Liessem enters his third season overall in collegiate coaching and will serve as the Patriots' goalkeeping coach, beginning in 2005.

"I am thrilled to have Robert join our staff," stated Drake. "His experience, personality and discipline on and off the field are exactly what I was looking for to balance the coaching staff. He has very strong leadership skills and frequently gives motivational speeches to large corporations. His charisma and energy are contagious."

Liessem spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons as an assistant and goalkeeping coach at Colonial Athletic Association school Old Dominion. He has served as the head goalkeeper coach with the Virginia Olympic Development Program Girls State team since 2002, and has also served as a goalkeeping coach for the Premier Goalkeeping School, Elite Soccer Academy and the New Jersey ODP.

A financial planner for the mortgage division president of Commonwealth Financial Services since July 2002, Liessem, who is a native of New Jersery, played high school soccer in Indian Hills, where he received all-league, all-area, all-suburban and all-state honors. He also played in a semi-pro men's league from 1985-89.

A 1987 graduate of Longwood University with a Bachelor's degree in business administration, Liessem played four years of college soccer for the Lancers, where he was named to the all-league, all-state and all-south teams.