TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team will play 18 matches during the 2018 regular season Head Coach Neil Stafford announced today. The Bearcats, coming off a 12-4-3 record last year and a third-place showing in the American Athletic Conference, will play 10 home matches, including the season-opener on August 17 when Eastern Kentucky comes to town. Along with the home slate, which includes matches at both Gettler Stadium and Nippert Stadium, the Bearcats will hit the road for eight contests with five of those coming against teams that competed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
"With us being so young, I think it will be a question of us figuring things out," Stafford said. "We are calling this 'Year One of Phase Two'. This is almost a completely new team and another starting point for UC women's soccer in what we are trying to accomplish here. I think the preseason friendlies and our non-conference schedule will allow for a lot of self-discovery within our program."
The 2018 season will get underway with a pair of preseason friendlies as the Bearcats will play host to Dayton and Illinois in back-to-back Sunday matches on campus. UC will welcome the Flyers on August 5 with the match slated for Nippert Stadium before the Fighting Illini come calling one week later (August 12) at Gettler Stadium. With a strong schedule ahead for his young team, Stafford is looking to take it one match at a time.
"I am looking forward to Dayton," Stafford said. "It is very cliché, but, we're not going to overload our plate thinking too far ahead; I would be doing our team a disservice looking beyond Dayton. Our mentality is all about what's directly in front of us. We need to figure out who we are, what we do well, what we need to work on and how to manage expectations. That is our vision. With this team, we will need to learn to jog before we can sprint."
With the friendlies behind them, the Bearcats will turn their attention to the regular season, which will get started five days later with the EKU Colonels coming to town to lift the lid on 2018 with a 7 p.m. match at Gettler. Last year, UC posted an 8-0-3 record at home, marking just the fifth time in program history the Bearcats were undefeated in their home schedule and the first since the 1996 season. This year, Stafford will look for his side to continue to make life difficult for the visitors as the team battles for another postseason appearance.
"We always enjoy playing at home and had some great experiences playing at both Gettler & Nippert (Stadiums)," Stafford said. "Hopefully we can continue that trend and that mentality of making our home a difficult place for opponents to play. If we can do that, and snatch some wins on the road, I feel it will put us in position to be more than prepared for postseason play."
Speaking of the road, the Bearcats' second match of the year will not only see them travel for the first time in 2018, but will see UC face Virginia (August 20 at 7 p.m.) in Charlottesville as the Bearcats will look for a result against a Cavaliers side that advanced to the NCAA Third Round last year and finished with an RPI of 18. After finishing with an RPI of #54 last year, including a climb to a program-record #11, the Bearcats' match at UVa will be the first of five against teams that ended 2017 ranked in the RPI Top 50 and the first of 10 against Top 100 sides.
"RPI is always something you want to do your best with and putting ourselves in a position to compete against top teams - I think we've done that with this schedule," Stafford said. "Having some of these matches on the road will also help. I think the challenges we will face this year with such a youthful team will set us up for success in the years to come. We have a talented but slightly inexperienced team; we want to put them in the arena and see how we compete."
With its first road trip of the year in the books, UC returns home for a pair of home matches with area ties, starting with a visit from Wright State August 24 at 7 p.m. Following UC's first match with the Raiders since the 2008 season, the Bearcats will then play host to the third Riverboat Rivalry Match as the Northern Kentucky Norse cross the Ohio River for a 7 p.m. contest at Gettler Stadium (Aug. 26). The Bearcats hold a 2-0-0 record in the Riverboat series, taking both contests with 1-0 scores.
UC will have five more non-conference matches remaining on their schedule and will start that schedule on the road at Notre Dame on August 30. Following the match with the Fighting Irish, who finished with an RPI of #17 last year and advanced to the NCAA Third Round, the Bearcats return home to face Kansas on September 6 in a 7 p.m. match at Nippert. Three days later, UC will make its final non-conference road trip as the Bearcats head to Auburn on September 9 for a 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) contest with a Tigers team that reached the NCAA Second Round last year before being bounced by the eventual champion, Stanford.
Finally, the non-conference slate comes a close with a pair of home matches, starting with a September 13 match at 7 p.m. against Lipscomb, the 2017 Atlantic Sun Conference Champions. Three days later, the Bearcats will welcome LSU to town. The location of both matches, along with the start time for the LSU contest, will be announced at a later date.
American Athletic play opens the weekend of September 20-23 with the Bearcats traveling to both Memphis (Sept. 20) and Tulsa (Sept. 23). The Bearcats and Tigers will meet in Memphis for a 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) match before UC ventures to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane in a 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) match.
UC's conference schedule will then see the Bearcats rotating play home and away over the next five weekends, starting with a visit from the Texas schools (Sept. 27-30). First, UC and SMU will meet at Nippert for a 7 p.m. match on September 27 before the Houston Cougars come to town on September 30 for a 1 p.m. match at Nippert.
A tough road trip will follow as the Bearcats will travel to Florida to face two teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year. First, UC will take on the Bulls of USF on October 4 in a 7 p.m. match in Tampa before closing the trip in Orlando with a 1 p.m. match at UCF on October 7. Both teams finished in the Top 20 of the RPI last year, including #19 for USF and #10 for UCF.
From there, the Bearcats will play host to their final two home contests of the season with both Temple and UConn coming to town. The Owls will be up first with a 7 p.m. match at Gettler slated for a 7 p.m. kick-off. The regular season home finale will follow on October 14 with a 1 p.m. match against the Huskies. The 2018 regular season will come to a close nearly two weeks later as UC will travel to ECU on Friday, October 26, for a 7 p.m. game in Greenville, N.C.
// POSTSEASON
Once again this year, the Top 6 teams in the standings will earn berths into the AAC Championships. The tournament will be held October 31-November 4 at the home of the regular season champion. The winner of the tournament will earn the league's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
// WATCH IT LIVE
All 10 home matches during the 2018 regular season will be streamed live on GoBearcats.com once again this year. The stream is free and links to each match will be placed on the schedule page closer to the start of the season.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The Experience UC initiative will return for the 2017 season with admission to all Bearcats women's soccer matches being complimentary. Fans are encouraged to visit GoBearcats.com in early August for a listing of promotions for each match this season, including concession specials and other events surrounding all 11 home matches.
// NOTING THE SCHEDULE
• Cincinnati is coming off a 2017 campaign in which the Bearcats posted a 12-4-3 overall record with a 5-2-2 record in American Athletic Conference play (third place)
• The Bearcats will play 18 matches in 2018, including 10 at home
• Cincinnati will face five foes that advanced to the NCAA tournament at the end of 2017 with all five matches taking place on the road, including Virginia, Notre Dame, Auburn, USF and UCF
• UC, who ended the year #54 in the RPI, will face five opponents that ended 2017 with an RPI in the Top 50 with five more matches against teams that ranked in the Top 100
• Cincinnati will open its schedule at home for the fourth year in a row and will look to win its third in a row on Opening Night
• Excluding Ohio, the Bearcats will play matches in seven different states in 2018, including trips to Virginia, Indiana and Alabama in non-conference play and Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida and North Carolina in conference action
• Outside of the AAC, the Bearcats will face foes from six other conferences, including two matches against the Atlantic Coast (ACC), Horizon and Southeastern (SEC) and one each against the Ohio Valley, Big 12 and Atlantic Sun
// BY THE NUMBERS
• UC will play 18 matches in the 2018 regular season, including 10 at home and 8 on the road
• The Bearcats are 25-12-1 all-time in their first match of the year and have won their last two openers in a row (1-0 vs. Buffalo last year at home and 2-1 (2ot) at home over Dayton in 2016)
• UC is 26-10-2 all-time in its home opener and have won two in a row (Buffalo and Dayton)
• The Bearcats are 21-14-3 in their first road contest of the season and have won two in a row (2-1 at Northwestern last year and 3-2 at Evansville in 2016)
• UC is 11-11-2 in its conference opener and is unbeaten in its last three following a 0-0 draw to #14 UCF last year
• The Bearcats are 84-23-6 all-time against teams from Ohio and have won two in a row. UC has outscored Ohio foes, 344-107, all-time and are 12-3-1 (6-0-0 at home) since its last meeting with Wright State (L, 3-2, in 2008 at home).
"With us being so young, I think it will be a question of us figuring things out," Stafford said. "We are calling this 'Year One of Phase Two'. This is almost a completely new team and another starting point for UC women's soccer in what we are trying to accomplish here. I think the preseason friendlies and our non-conference schedule will allow for a lot of self-discovery within our program."
The 2018 season will get underway with a pair of preseason friendlies as the Bearcats will play host to Dayton and Illinois in back-to-back Sunday matches on campus. UC will welcome the Flyers on August 5 with the match slated for Nippert Stadium before the Fighting Illini come calling one week later (August 12) at Gettler Stadium. With a strong schedule ahead for his young team, Stafford is looking to take it one match at a time.
"I am looking forward to Dayton," Stafford said. "It is very cliché, but, we're not going to overload our plate thinking too far ahead; I would be doing our team a disservice looking beyond Dayton. Our mentality is all about what's directly in front of us. We need to figure out who we are, what we do well, what we need to work on and how to manage expectations. That is our vision. With this team, we will need to learn to jog before we can sprint."
With the friendlies behind them, the Bearcats will turn their attention to the regular season, which will get started five days later with the EKU Colonels coming to town to lift the lid on 2018 with a 7 p.m. match at Gettler. Last year, UC posted an 8-0-3 record at home, marking just the fifth time in program history the Bearcats were undefeated in their home schedule and the first since the 1996 season. This year, Stafford will look for his side to continue to make life difficult for the visitors as the team battles for another postseason appearance.
"We always enjoy playing at home and had some great experiences playing at both Gettler & Nippert (Stadiums)," Stafford said. "Hopefully we can continue that trend and that mentality of making our home a difficult place for opponents to play. If we can do that, and snatch some wins on the road, I feel it will put us in position to be more than prepared for postseason play."
Speaking of the road, the Bearcats' second match of the year will not only see them travel for the first time in 2018, but will see UC face Virginia (August 20 at 7 p.m.) in Charlottesville as the Bearcats will look for a result against a Cavaliers side that advanced to the NCAA Third Round last year and finished with an RPI of 18. After finishing with an RPI of #54 last year, including a climb to a program-record #11, the Bearcats' match at UVa will be the first of five against teams that ended 2017 ranked in the RPI Top 50 and the first of 10 against Top 100 sides.
"RPI is always something you want to do your best with and putting ourselves in a position to compete against top teams - I think we've done that with this schedule," Stafford said. "Having some of these matches on the road will also help. I think the challenges we will face this year with such a youthful team will set us up for success in the years to come. We have a talented but slightly inexperienced team; we want to put them in the arena and see how we compete."
With its first road trip of the year in the books, UC returns home for a pair of home matches with area ties, starting with a visit from Wright State August 24 at 7 p.m. Following UC's first match with the Raiders since the 2008 season, the Bearcats will then play host to the third Riverboat Rivalry Match as the Northern Kentucky Norse cross the Ohio River for a 7 p.m. contest at Gettler Stadium (Aug. 26). The Bearcats hold a 2-0-0 record in the Riverboat series, taking both contests with 1-0 scores.
UC will have five more non-conference matches remaining on their schedule and will start that schedule on the road at Notre Dame on August 30. Following the match with the Fighting Irish, who finished with an RPI of #17 last year and advanced to the NCAA Third Round, the Bearcats return home to face Kansas on September 6 in a 7 p.m. match at Nippert. Three days later, UC will make its final non-conference road trip as the Bearcats head to Auburn on September 9 for a 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) contest with a Tigers team that reached the NCAA Second Round last year before being bounced by the eventual champion, Stanford.
Finally, the non-conference slate comes a close with a pair of home matches, starting with a September 13 match at 7 p.m. against Lipscomb, the 2017 Atlantic Sun Conference Champions. Three days later, the Bearcats will welcome LSU to town. The location of both matches, along with the start time for the LSU contest, will be announced at a later date.
American Athletic play opens the weekend of September 20-23 with the Bearcats traveling to both Memphis (Sept. 20) and Tulsa (Sept. 23). The Bearcats and Tigers will meet in Memphis for a 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) match before UC ventures to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane in a 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET) match.
UC's conference schedule will then see the Bearcats rotating play home and away over the next five weekends, starting with a visit from the Texas schools (Sept. 27-30). First, UC and SMU will meet at Nippert for a 7 p.m. match on September 27 before the Houston Cougars come to town on September 30 for a 1 p.m. match at Nippert.
A tough road trip will follow as the Bearcats will travel to Florida to face two teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year. First, UC will take on the Bulls of USF on October 4 in a 7 p.m. match in Tampa before closing the trip in Orlando with a 1 p.m. match at UCF on October 7. Both teams finished in the Top 20 of the RPI last year, including #19 for USF and #10 for UCF.
From there, the Bearcats will play host to their final two home contests of the season with both Temple and UConn coming to town. The Owls will be up first with a 7 p.m. match at Gettler slated for a 7 p.m. kick-off. The regular season home finale will follow on October 14 with a 1 p.m. match against the Huskies. The 2018 regular season will come to a close nearly two weeks later as UC will travel to ECU on Friday, October 26, for a 7 p.m. game in Greenville, N.C.
// POSTSEASON
Once again this year, the Top 6 teams in the standings will earn berths into the AAC Championships. The tournament will be held October 31-November 4 at the home of the regular season champion. The winner of the tournament will earn the league's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
// WATCH IT LIVE
All 10 home matches during the 2018 regular season will be streamed live on GoBearcats.com once again this year. The stream is free and links to each match will be placed on the schedule page closer to the start of the season.
// EXPERIENCE UC
The Experience UC initiative will return for the 2017 season with admission to all Bearcats women's soccer matches being complimentary. Fans are encouraged to visit GoBearcats.com in early August for a listing of promotions for each match this season, including concession specials and other events surrounding all 11 home matches.
// NOTING THE SCHEDULE
• Cincinnati is coming off a 2017 campaign in which the Bearcats posted a 12-4-3 overall record with a 5-2-2 record in American Athletic Conference play (third place)
• The Bearcats will play 18 matches in 2018, including 10 at home
• Cincinnati will face five foes that advanced to the NCAA tournament at the end of 2017 with all five matches taking place on the road, including Virginia, Notre Dame, Auburn, USF and UCF
• UC, who ended the year #54 in the RPI, will face five opponents that ended 2017 with an RPI in the Top 50 with five more matches against teams that ranked in the Top 100
• Cincinnati will open its schedule at home for the fourth year in a row and will look to win its third in a row on Opening Night
• Excluding Ohio, the Bearcats will play matches in seven different states in 2018, including trips to Virginia, Indiana and Alabama in non-conference play and Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida and North Carolina in conference action
• Outside of the AAC, the Bearcats will face foes from six other conferences, including two matches against the Atlantic Coast (ACC), Horizon and Southeastern (SEC) and one each against the Ohio Valley, Big 12 and Atlantic Sun
// BY THE NUMBERS
• UC will play 18 matches in the 2018 regular season, including 10 at home and 8 on the road
• The Bearcats are 25-12-1 all-time in their first match of the year and have won their last two openers in a row (1-0 vs. Buffalo last year at home and 2-1 (2ot) at home over Dayton in 2016)
• UC is 26-10-2 all-time in its home opener and have won two in a row (Buffalo and Dayton)
• The Bearcats are 21-14-3 in their first road contest of the season and have won two in a row (2-1 at Northwestern last year and 3-2 at Evansville in 2016)
• UC is 11-11-2 in its conference opener and is unbeaten in its last three following a 0-0 draw to #14 UCF last year
• The Bearcats are 84-23-6 all-time against teams from Ohio and have won two in a row. UC has outscored Ohio foes, 344-107, all-time and are 12-3-1 (6-0-0 at home) since its last meeting with Wright State (L, 3-2, in 2008 at home).