March 28, 2024

For Eagles’ Gadsoni Abel, Soccer and Service Go Hand in Hand

Senior midfielder Gadsoni Abel brings optimism and perseverance to the Eagles men’s soccer team.

Senior midfielder Gadsoni Abel brings optimism and perseverance to the Eagles men’s soccer team.

When the UMW men’s soccer team takes the field for the NCAA Division III Final Four game today – Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022 – senior midfielder Gadsoni Abel knows fans will see something special.

The Mary Washington players understand exactly what Coach Jason Kilby wants from them, Abel said, and what they want from one another.

“There’s no better feeling than having the coach’s vision carried out and the team’s vision carried out,” he said. “We get it. Now let’s have fun with it.”

That optimistic spirit has seen Gadsoni through a lifetime of perseverance – beginning with boyhood days playing soccer in a Tanzanian refugee camp where his family lived after fleeing ethnic strife in their native Burundi. Read more.