TicketsCINCINNATI – University of Cincinnati men's soccer head coach Hylton Dayes announced Monday the team's 2019 fall schedule.
Complete with 17 contests, the Bearcats have an exciting, 10-game home slate on tap featuring matches against four NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago – West Virginia, UConn, SMU, and UCF.
"We are excited about this year's schedule," said Dayes. "The home schedule is very strong, featuring four teams that played in last year's NCAA Tournament, plus crosstown rival Xavier. This schedule will not only challenge us, but also prepare us for conference play, which is a top priority."
Following exhibitions against a pair of 2018 NCAA qualifiers -- versus Michigan (Aug. 17), at Lipscomb (Aug. 24) – UC will officially kick off the season at home on Aug. 30 against Mercer. The matchup with the Bears will be the start of a three-game homestand, with Albany coming to town on Sept. 2 and crosstown rival Xavier visiting on Sept. 6.
"Our preseason matches will also be very challenging," said Dayes, "as we play Michigan and Lipscomb, who were NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. These matches will give us a good idea of areas that we need to improve in and allow us to get a good sense of where we are going into the season."
The Red & Black's first road tests will come at Wright State on Sept. 10 and at Western Michigan on Sept. 14. Next, WVU -- who took the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season crown in 2018 – will come to Cincinnati on Sept. 17.
UC will then head north for a visit with Bowling Green on Sept. 21, prior to kicking off American Athletic Conference (AAC) action at home vs. Memphis on Sept. 28.
With three of their next four matches at Gettler Stadium, the Bearcats will welcome Fort Wayne to campus on Oct. 1, then travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Oct. 5. Back-to-back home meetings with Cleveland State on Oct. 9 and UConn on Oct. 12 will then take place.
Road tests at Tulsa on Oct. 19 and IUPUI on Oct. 22 will follow, before a challenging stretch to close league play. A home contest against 2018 AAC Tournament Champion SMU will occur on Oct. 26, succeeded by a visit to USF on Nov. 1, and the regular-season finale at home vs. reigning conference regular-season champion UCF on Nov. 5.
For the second year in a row, the top six teams in the conference will qualify for the AAC Men's Soccer Championship, Nov. 9-16. The Quarterfinals round will be played Nov. 9 at the higher seed's venue, with the semifinals and championship slated for Nov. 13 and 16, respectively, at the site of the No. 1 seed, as determined by the regular-season crown. Previously, only the top four teams in the league qualified for the league championship.
"Our goal is to be successful in our league and put ourselves in a position to advance in the conference tournament," said Dayes. "In order to accomplish that, we will need to get off to a good start in the league and be consistent in our play, especially on the road. This will not be easy, but we like the makeup of the team heading into preseason training."
// SUPPORT THE BEARCATS
Fans are invited to Experience UC all season long with complimentary admission to every home match.
// GET CONNECTED
Stay up to date with the team by following the Bearcats on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @GoBearcatsMSOC.
Complete with 17 contests, the Bearcats have an exciting, 10-game home slate on tap featuring matches against four NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago – West Virginia, UConn, SMU, and UCF.
"We are excited about this year's schedule," said Dayes. "The home schedule is very strong, featuring four teams that played in last year's NCAA Tournament, plus crosstown rival Xavier. This schedule will not only challenge us, but also prepare us for conference play, which is a top priority."
Following exhibitions against a pair of 2018 NCAA qualifiers -- versus Michigan (Aug. 17), at Lipscomb (Aug. 24) – UC will officially kick off the season at home on Aug. 30 against Mercer. The matchup with the Bears will be the start of a three-game homestand, with Albany coming to town on Sept. 2 and crosstown rival Xavier visiting on Sept. 6.
"Our preseason matches will also be very challenging," said Dayes, "as we play Michigan and Lipscomb, who were NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. These matches will give us a good idea of areas that we need to improve in and allow us to get a good sense of where we are going into the season."
The Red & Black's first road tests will come at Wright State on Sept. 10 and at Western Michigan on Sept. 14. Next, WVU -- who took the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season crown in 2018 – will come to Cincinnati on Sept. 17.
UC will then head north for a visit with Bowling Green on Sept. 21, prior to kicking off American Athletic Conference (AAC) action at home vs. Memphis on Sept. 28.
With three of their next four matches at Gettler Stadium, the Bearcats will welcome Fort Wayne to campus on Oct. 1, then travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Oct. 5. Back-to-back home meetings with Cleveland State on Oct. 9 and UConn on Oct. 12 will then take place.
Road tests at Tulsa on Oct. 19 and IUPUI on Oct. 22 will follow, before a challenging stretch to close league play. A home contest against 2018 AAC Tournament Champion SMU will occur on Oct. 26, succeeded by a visit to USF on Nov. 1, and the regular-season finale at home vs. reigning conference regular-season champion UCF on Nov. 5.
For the second year in a row, the top six teams in the conference will qualify for the AAC Men's Soccer Championship, Nov. 9-16. The Quarterfinals round will be played Nov. 9 at the higher seed's venue, with the semifinals and championship slated for Nov. 13 and 16, respectively, at the site of the No. 1 seed, as determined by the regular-season crown. Previously, only the top four teams in the league qualified for the league championship.
"Our goal is to be successful in our league and put ourselves in a position to advance in the conference tournament," said Dayes. "In order to accomplish that, we will need to get off to a good start in the league and be consistent in our play, especially on the road. This will not be easy, but we like the makeup of the team heading into preseason training."
// SUPPORT THE BEARCATS
Fans are invited to Experience UC all season long with complimentary admission to every home match.
// GET CONNECTED
Stay up to date with the team by following the Bearcats on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @GoBearcatsMSOC.