TicketsJune 15, 2010
CINCINNATI- The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team will play six matches against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including national semifinalist Notre Dame, head coach Michelle Salmon announced today.
"We are very excited about the 2010 schedule," said Salmon. "The early part of the schedule will offer us highly competitive games which will prepare our team for success in the BIG EAST. When you couple a competitive non-conference schedule, with tremendous level offered during the BIG EAST regular season, we feel that our team will be well prepared to compete for a BIG EAST Championship and a place in the NCAA Tournament."
UC opens the regular season at home against Morehead State (Aug. 20). The Bearcats own a 4-0 record all-time against Morehead State, with the schools last meeting in 1984.
After a match at Bowling Green (Aug. 22), the Bearcats travel to Madison, Wis. to compete in the Wisconsin Tournament against Big Ten schools Northwestern (Aug. 27) and Wisconsin (Aug. 29). Wisconsin is coming off a season in which they made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament, and this marks the first meeting between the schools since 1996. UC and Northwestern last played in 1998.
Three home matches, starting against the College of Charleston (Sept. 3), Western Michigan (Sept. 5), and Illinois (Sept. 11) round out the non-conference portion of the home schedule. The games against the College of Charleston and Western Michigan mark the first matchups between the schools.
The Bearcats open up BIG EAST Conference action on Thursday, Sept. 16, at Louisville and visit crosstown rival Xavier (Sept. 19) before traveling to South Bend, Ind. to take on Notre Dame (Sept. 24). The Fighting Irish advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament Final Four before being ousted by eventual tournament champion North Carolina. Last season the Bearcats lost to nationally-ranked Notre Dame at Gettler Stadium 2-1 in a closely contested match that saw UC jump out to a 1-0 lead in the 76th minute, before surrendering two goals in the final 12 minutes.
UC's remaining road contests are at Marquette (Oct. 15), USF (Oct. 17), Rutgers (Oct. 22), and Seton Hall (Oct. 24). Marquette and Rutgers both qualified for the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Cincinnati opens up conference play at home on Sept. 26, against DePaul, and stays at home for five consecutive conference matches. The remaining home matches feature games against West Virginia (Oct. 1), Pittsburgh (Oct. 3), Georgetown (Oct. 8), and Villanova (Oct. 10). West Virginia and Villanova were both NCAA Tournament teams a season ago.
The season opener against Morehead State is scheduled to begin Friday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. at Gettler Stadium.