2006 USF MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE UNVEILED

[Brad]

Courtesy USF SID Office

2006 USF MEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE UNVEILED

TAMPA, Fla. (May 26, 2006) – Head Coach George Kiefer and the University of South Florida men’s soccer team unveiled its schedule for the 2006 campaign today.  

USF will continue its trend of facing the nation’s elite as the 2006 schedule will pit the Bulls against six teams that received bids to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, including four which finished the season nationally ranked. The Bulls will enter the 2006 season looking to defend their BIG EAST Red Division title as well as claim the school’s first-ever conference crown.  

Following three exhibition matches during the month of August (Aug. 12 vs. Tampa, Aug. 16 at UCF and Aug. 19 at Saint Louis) USF will open up the 2006 campaign on the road at in-state rival FIU on Friday, Aug. 25. The Bulls, who will be playing the Golden Panthers for the sixth-straight season, are looking to avenge the team’s only home loss of the season – a 1-0 defeat in the team’s first game of the season.  

USF will host the Fordham Rams in the team’s home opener on Sunday, Aug. 27. The meeting will mark third all-time and the first between USF and Fordham since the 1991 season, with the Bulls holding a 2-0-0 edge in the series history.

USF then begins a four-game swing away from the USF Soccer Stadium, starting with the Duke/adidas Classic (Sept. 1-3). The four-team tournament will feature Duke, N.C. State and American University. The Bulls, which will not face American, take on host-institution Duke on Friday, Sept. 1. The Blue Devils finished ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation (Soccer America) at the end of last season with a 12-5-3 record. In its second game of the classic, USF will take on N.C. State on Sunday, Sept. 3. The Wolfpack finished the 2005 campaign with an 11-7-1. USF holds a 3-1-0 record versus the Wolfpack all-time and will be facing the ACC power for the first time since 2001.

The Bulls will open up conference play with the team’s first-ever trip to South Bend, Ind., as USF will face Notre Dame on Friday, Sept. 8. It will mark the team’s second meeting all-time with the Irish and the first-ever as a member of the BIG EAST. The Bulls will close out their early season road swing with a trip to Milwaukee, Wis., to face the Marquette Golden Eagles (Sept. 10). This meeting between the two former Conference USA foes will mark the first-ever of the BIG EAST era. USF holds a 7-5-0 record all-time versus Marquette.  

The Mountaineers of West Virginia will come to town on Friday, Sept. 15 in USF BIG EAST home opener. The Bulls took two games from the Mountaineers last season (a 1-0 win in Morgantown and a 4-1 victory in the second round of the BIG EAST Tournament at the USF Soccer Stadium). The Mountaineers finished 2005 with a 13-8-2 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. USF will then host the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday, Sept. 17. The game will mark the first-ever between the two teams in Tampa. The Bulls defeated the Panthers in their inaugural meeting last season, 1-0.

The Bulls hit the road to face the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday, Sept. 23. USF defeated Villanova, 4-2, the first-ever meeting between the two teams last season. USF will then return to the familiar Wish Field to take on the DePaul Blue Demons on Wednesday, Sept. 27. USF will look improve on its success versus DePaul having outscored the Blue Demons 26-6 during the series history (11-1-0).  Rutgers will continue BIG EAST play for the Bulls as the Scarlet Knights come to the USF Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Bulls will be looking to avenge a 3-0 loss at Rutgers last season – one of only two conference losses for USF in 2005.  

The FAU Owls will come to town in a mid-week, non-conference outing on Wednesday, Oct. 4. The outing will be the first between the two teams since Aug. 29, 2003 as the last two scheduled games were cancelled due to inclement weather (Aug. 9, 2004 and Oct. 4, 2005).

USF will then head to Cincinnati on Oct. 7 to face the Bearcats before beginning a three-game homestand. USF holds a slight edge in the series history with Cincinnati (6-5-2) as coach Kiefer will be looking to earn his first-career victory at Gettler Stadium. Stetson (Oct. 10), Syracuse (Oct. 15) and Louisville (Oct. 18) will close out the home portion of the 2006 season. The Hatters, which faced USF in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, are one of two teams the Bulls have registered 20-or-more wins against. USF holds a 21-4-1 advantage in the series history, having downed the Hatters twice in 2005. Syracuse makes its first-ever trip to the USF Soccer Stadium as one of the two BIG EAST teams to hand USF a conference loss last season. USF’s final home game of the 2006 regular season will be with long-time foe Louisville. The Bulls clinched the 2005 Red Division title with last season’s 4-1 victory over the Cardinals and hoped to be poised to be in a similar situation when Louisville comes to town. Holding a 12-3-1 edge in the series history, USF will be looking for its fourth-straight victory over Louisville.

The final match of the 2006 regular season will pit perennial BIG EAST power St. John’s versus USF at Belson Stadium in Queens, N.Y. The Bulls knocked off then-No.3 St. John’s last season, 1-0, to improve their overall record versus the Red Storm to 2-1-0. A 2005 NCAA Tournament team, St. John’s advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion Maryland Terrapins (3-1).

The top five teams from each division (16 total teams; two divisions of eight) will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship. First round matches (between teams four and five of each division) will take place on Oct. 25-26 on campus sites. The quarterfinals will be played on Oct. 28-29  at campus sites with the semifinals and finals taking place at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. (Nov. 3-5).

2006 USF Men’s Soccer Schedule

Date           Day                  Opponent                                                Site                                          Time ET

Aug. 12          Saturday               University of Tampa (Exhibition)                         USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Aug. 16          Wednesday          at UCF (Exhibition)                                                  UCF Soccer Complex                         7 p.m.

Aug. 19          Saturday                at Saint Louis (Exhibition)                                      Robert R. Hermann Stadium            7 p.m.

Aug. 25          Friday                     at FIU                                                                         University Park                                     8 p.m.

Aug. 27          Sunday                  Fordham                                                                   USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Sept. 1           Friday                     at Duke#                                                                    Koskinen Stadium                              5 p.m.

Sept. 3           Sunday                  vs. N.C. State#                                                         Koskinen Stadium                              7:30 p.m.

Sept. 8           Friday                     at Notre Dame*                                                        Alumni Field                                         7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10         Sunday                  at Marquette*                                                            Al McGuire Center                               TBA

Sept. 15         Friday                     West Virginia*                                                         USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17         Sunday                  Pittsburgh*                                                               USF Soccer Stadium                         1 p.m.

Sept. 23         Saturday                at Villanova*                                                              Villanova Soccer Complex                 1 p.m.

Sept. 27         Wednesday          at DePaul*                                                                Wish Field                                             4 p.m.

Sept. 30         Saturday               Rutgers*                                                                   USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Oct. 4             Wednesday          FAU                                                                             USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Oct. 7              Saturday                at Cincinnati*                                                            Gettler Stadium                                    7 p.m.

Oct. 10           Tuesday                Stetson                                                                     USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15           Saturday               Syracuse*                                                                USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Oct. 18           Wednesday          Louisville*                                                                 USF Soccer Stadium                         7:30 p.m.

Oct. 21           Saturday                at St. John’s*                                                            Belson Stadium                                   6 p.m.

Oct. 25-26     Wed.-Thurs.          BIG EAST First Round                                            Campus Sites                                      TBD

Oct. 28-29     Sat.-Sun.               BIG EAST Quarterfinals                                          Campus Sites                                      TBD

Nov. 3             Friday                     BIG EAST Semifinals!                                             Yurcak Field                                          TBD

Nov. 5             Sunday                  BIG EAST Finals!                                                     Yurcak Field                                          TBD

Nov. 10-11    Fri.-Sat.                  NCAA Tournament (First Round)                         Campus Sites                                      TBD

Nov. 15          Wednesday          NCAA Tournament (Second Round)                   Campus Sites                                      TBD

Nov. 18-19    Sat.-Sun.               NCAA Tournament (Third Round)                        Campus Sites                                      TBD

Nov. 24-26    Fri.-Sun.                 NCAA Tournament (Quarterfinals)                       Campus Sites                                      TBD

Dec. 1-3         Fri.-Sun.                 Men’s College Cup^                                               Robert R. Hermann Stadium            TBD

All time eastern

Bold indicates home games

All home game played at the USF Soccer Stadium

* - BIG EAST Conference Games

# - Duke/adidas Classic, Durham, N.C.

! – BIG EAST Championship, Piscataway, N.J.

^ - Men’s College Cup, St. Louis, Mo.

[USFan]

USF then begins a four-game swing away from the USF Soccer Stadium, starting with the Duke/adidas Classic (Sept. 1-3). The four-team tournament will feature Duke, N.C. State and American University. The Bulls, which will not face American, take on host-institution Duke on Friday, Sept. 1. The Blue Devils finished ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation (Soccer America) at the end of last season with a 12-5-3 record. In its second game of the classic, USF will take on N.C. State on Sunday, Sept. 3. The Wolfpack finished the 2005 campaign with an 11-7-1. USF holds a 3-1-0 record versus the Wolfpack all-time and will be facing the ACC power for the first time since 2001.

Sweet!... I'll be there

GO BULLS!

[smazza]

good news

[80mins]

I might have to go check 'em at the tourney in Dirty Durham, even if it does mean I have to set foot on D***'s campus.