Air Force Releases 2009 Men's Soccer Schedule
5/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
May 21, 2009
• 2009 Air Force men's soccer schedule
Three teams that advanced to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, including Sweet 16 team California, and a match-up at Cadet Soccer Stadium against service-academy rival Army highlight the Air Force Academy's 2009 men's soccer schedule, released today by head coach Doug Hill. Following a pair of preseason scrimmages, the Falcons' regular season begins on Friday, Sept. 4 against College of Charleston as part of the NIKE/Aaron Olitisky Memorial Classic in Charleston, S.C.
"We are looking forward to a very challenging schedule this fall," said Hill, who will enter his third season as head coach. "Our non-conference schedule should help us prepare to achieve our goal of winning the conference title."
The Falcons will also face Furman in Charleston on Sunday, Sept. 6 before their home opener on Friday, Sept. 11 against Belmont. Dayton, a first-round loser in last season's NCAA Tournament, travels to the Academy on Sunday, Sept. 13. Air Force then takes on the Black Knights from Army on Saturday, Sept. 19. The last time these teams played at USAFA was in the 2006 season opener when Army scored with two seconds remaining in regulation to force a 1-1 tie in front 3,206 spectators, a Cadet Soccer Stadium regular season record.
"It is always special to host a service-academy game," Hill said. "The game against Army in `06 was a great game. I expect the same this season and I hope we can fill the stadium again."
A weekend on the West Coast has the Falcons taking on Stanford on Friday, Sept. 25, followed two days later in Berkeley, Calif., against California, which dropped a 2-1 decision to eventual champion Maryland in the NCAA round of 16 last fall. Following a pair of games at the Houston Baptist Tournament (Howard University on Oct. 2 and Houston Baptist on Oct. 4), the non-conference season concludes with a home game against UMKC on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 12.
With the addition of Seattle University and Cal-State Bakersfield, the eight-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation will not play a home-and-home conference slate for the first time since 2003. Air Force opens MPSF play on Friday, Oct. 16 at Sacramento State, and hosts three league games this season, against New Mexico (Friday, Oct. 23), UNLV (Sunday, Oct. 25) and defending MPSF champion Denver (Saturday, Nov. 7). The MPSF Tournament will begin on Thursday, Nov. 12 at Denver, while the 2009 NCAA Tournament opens on Friday, Nov. 20.
Air Force, which finished 5-13 overall and 3-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last season, returns 18 letterwinners and 10 starters from the 2008 team.
