UCF Women’s Soccer Unveils Eventful 2007 Schedule

7/12/2007

Six NCAA Tournament teams from last season on the docket, including hosting College Cup semifinalist Florida State in September.



Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) – The UCF women’s soccer team always seems to put together a very exciting and challenging schedule, and the 2007 slate certainly falls into those categories as it was officially released Thrusday. The Knights will play host to 10 regular-season matches, while making non-conference trips to the Tennessee Lady Vol Classic and to Mississippi to face a pair of SEC programs.



In all, UCF meets up with six schools that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 (Penn State, UNLV, Florida State, SMU, Colorado College, UAB). The Black and Gold also will play three teams for the first time in school history (Penn State, UC-Davis, Mississippi State).



To prepare for the season, the Knights (11-6-2 in 2006) will welcome Northern Illinois Aug. 23 and USF Aug. 25 in two exhibition matches at the UCF Soccer Complex. Those contests will be crucial for the following weekend, when they head to Knoxville, Tenn., for the season-opening Lady Vol Classic. At the event, UCF has the pleasure of facing two Big Ten teams in Minnesota Aug. 31 and Penn State Sept. 2. The Gophers claimed conference titles in 1995 and 1997, while the Nittany Lions advanced to the Elite Eight and had a No. 7 national ranking a year ago.



The UCF Invitational is back in 2007 and will serve as the Knights’ home opener. Two-time reigning Mountain West champion UNLV awaits UCF on the first day of action Sept. 7, and UC-Davis, which is in its first year in the Big West, will battle the Knights Sept. 9. South Carolina also will participate in the tournament.



UCF will spend some time in the Magnolia State to complete the road portion of its non-conference schedule. The Knights tangle with Mississippi State Sept. 14 and wrap up the weekend at Ole Miss Sept. 16. Mississippi had an 8-7-5 record in 2006, but has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past five seasons.



In concluding its non-conference matches, UCF has two in-state rivals and a regular-season conference champion to deal with. Miami invades the UCF Soccer Complex Sept. 19, as the two teams will be looking to break the 4-4-0 tie in the all-time series. No. 4 Florida State, a NCAA College Cup semifinalist last year, then travels to Orlando Sept. 22 for what will be the eighth meeting between the Seminoles and the Knights. FSU went 18-4-4 in 2006, and outscored opponents 13-3 in the NCAA Tournament. Loyola (Md.) also heads to Orlando Sept. 28, as the Greyhounds are coming off a year in which they claimed the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.



The first Conference USA weekend kicks off Oct. 5 and Oct. 7 with match-ups vs. Marshall and East Carolina, respectively. The Knights are a combined 4-0-1 against the Thundering Herd and the Pirates, as those matches will conclude a season-long five-game home stand. After journeys to Tulsa Oct. 12 and SMU, the C-USA regular-season champion Oct. 14, UCF hosts UTEP Oct. 19 and Colorado College Oct. 21. CC went 15-6-1 last season and was the runner-up in the C-USA Championship.



UCF closes out the road portion of the schedule with a trip to UAB Oct. 26 and Memphis Oct. 28. UAB received the league’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament by winning the C-USA Championship. Southern Miss will be the final opponent for the Knights at the UCF Soccer Complex when the Golden Eagles face-off with the Black and Gold Nov. 2.



This year’s C-USA Championship will be hosted by UTEP Nov. 7-11. It will be the first time UCF has traveled to El Paso, Texas.