Air Force Announces 2010 Men's Soccer Schedule
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
June 3, 2010
Four teams that advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament, including conference opponents Sacramento State and New Mexico, highlight the Air Force Academy's 2010 men's soccer schedule, released today by head coach Doug Hill. Following a preseason exhibition against Stanford, the Falcons will open their regular season at home for the first time since 2006 with a pair of games at Cadet Soccer Stadium during Labor Day Weekend.
Air Force will battle Houston Baptist (Friday, Sept. 3) and Cal-Poly (Sunday, Sept. 5) during Parents' Weekend at the Academy. The Falcons, who have not played two home games during Parents' Weekend since 2004, will then travel to the West Coast for the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Tournament, hosted by San Diego State. AFA will open against the host Aztecs on Friday, Sept. 10, followed by a match against NCAA Tournament team UC Irvine on Sunday, Sept. 12.
Two more home matches follow, the first against Penn State, another '09 NCAA tourney participant, on Friday, Sept. 17, then Oral Roberts comes to Cadet Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 19. Another pair of games in California, against UC Riverside on Friday, Sept. 24 and Cal. State-Northridge on Sunday, Sept. 26, close out the 2010 non-conference slate.
"We are looking forward to a very challenging schedule this fall," said Hill, who will enter his fourth season as head coach. "Our non-conference schedule should help us prepare to achieve our goal of competing for a conference title."
The eight-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation will split into two four-team divisions for the '10 campaign. Air Force will be in the same division as New Mexico, UNLV and Denver and will play each of those schools in a home-and-home series. The Falcons will play the other four schools, San Jose State, Sacramento State, Seattle University and Cal. State-Bakersfield, just one time for a total of 10 conference games.
The Falcons open MPSF play at home against Denver on Saturday, Oct. 2 and hosts four other games this season, against UNLV (Friday, Oct. 15), New Mexico (Sunday, Oct. 17), San Jose State (Friday, Oct. 22) and defending MPSF champion Sacramento State (Sunday, Oct. 24). The MPSF Tournament will begin on Thurs., Nov. 11 in Sacramento, Calif., while the 2010 NCAA Tournament opens on Friday, Nov. 19.
Air Force, which finished 7-8-2 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last season, returns 14 letterwinners and six starters from the 2009 team.
