Men's Soccer: 2010 Schedule Announced
May 05, 2010 12:01 PM | General
May 5, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong has released the 2010 men’s soccer schedule, which is highlighted by nine home matches and two tourrnaments that will take place at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo
"Marlon LeBlanc has put together an exciting schedule in 2010,” Pastilong says. “It is filled with challenges and will help prepare the men's team in its run toward postseason success."
The schedule consists of games against 13 teams that finished 2009 with winning records, including nine squads, which finished in the nation’s Top 55 RPI. Additionally, 10 of the 13 teams finished their respective seasons with at least 10 victories, with five of those teams reaching the NCAA Tournament.
"The goal every year is to challenge our guys against the best competition in the country,” coach Marlon LeBlanc says. “Certainly, we like to bring great teams to Morgantown as well, and I think we've done that. Our schedule, top to bottom, is always one of the best in the country. Heading into 2010, it's an important piece of trying to build your program and make runs into the BIG EAST and NCAA Tournaments, and our schedule will certainly prepare us to do that."
WVU opens the season at home with the West Virginia University NIKE Classic in early September. Both teams the Mountaineers will face, Monmouth and UNC Wilmington, won their regular-season titles, conference tournament crowns and earned bids to the NCAA Tournament. Monmouth, WVU’s Sept. 3 opponent, went 18-2-2 a season ago. The Mountaineers face UNC Wilmington on Sept. 5, a team that went 14-3-5 in 2009.
Less than a week later, WVU heads south to Virginia Beach, Va., to take part in the Old Dominion University Soccer Classic. WVU faces William & Mary on Sept. 10 and then the tournament host on Sept. 12. Like WVU’s first two opponents, ODU and William & Mary finished the 2009 season with winning records.
The Mountaineers return home to play host to their second tournament of the season, the BIG EAST Partner Weekend, with matches against Cal-State Fullerton and James Madison. WVU meets the Titans on Sept. 17 and then squares off with the Dukes on Sept. 19.
On Sept. 25, WVU opens BIG EAST play at home with a match against DePaul. Following road matches at Duquesne, Georgetown and Elon, the Southern Conference Tournament runner-up, WVU resumes conference action.
WVU battles Notre Dame, the BIG EAST Tournament runner-up, on Oct. 9, with a contest against league-rival Pitt to follow on Oct. 13. Both matches will take place at Dick Dlesk.
Of the final five regular-season matches, three require the Mountaineers to take to the road – USF (Oct. 16), Connecticut (Oct. 20) and Providence (Oct. 30). The two home contests feature Seton Hall (Oct. 23) and Marquette (Oct. 27).
"The hopes are that we're more prepared to sustain a more difficult schedule,” LeBlanc adds. “Last year, with a very young team, we threw them in the fire and said, 'Good, bad or indifferent, we're going to go with it for the hopes of building this program toward 2010-11.' I thought, for the most part, our guys did well. Unfortunately, a couple of major injuries at the end of last season derailed what was a pretty good season. We had some marquee wins against some very good teams last year. This year, the hopes are that the guys have learned from those experiences with us starting five or six freshmen on a regular basis."
BIG EAST Tournament action begins in November, with the first (Nov. 3) and second rounds (Nov. 6) taking piace at campus sites. For the first time in league history, the semifinal and final matches will be held at newly built Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., on Nov. 12 and 14.
Click here for a link to the 2010 schedule.
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