Women's soccer releases 2009 schedule
Dolphins open with nationally-ranked Florida State on Aug. 21
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - June 23, 2009 The JU women's soccer team will get tested right out of the gate in the 2009 season opener with a trip to nationally-ranked Florida State on Aug. 21, as the Dolphins annouce their schedule on Wednesday.

The Dolphins, who will have 11 freshmen on their squad in 2009, play an exhibition match at in-state rival South Florida on Aug. 16 before facing the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla.

"We have a very competitive schedule for this fall," said JU head coach Brian Copham. "We open up with an exhibition at USF (Big East) and begin the season with FSU, who is one of the top teams in the ACC as well as in the country. After those two matches, the schedule does not let up as we play a couple of conference champions and a few teams that have finished near the top of their respective conferences.

"I am excited that we get tested early and often with this schedule. We will play teams from seven different conferences before we get to our conference schedule. We will have a young team this fall, but I feel this demanding schedule will be great preparation for conference play. "

Following the match against the Seminoles, the Dolphins will travel across town to play Coastal Carolina and Georgia State in the UNF Tournament on Aug. 28 and 30.

The Dolphins open their home schedule with the JU Coaches for a Cure Classic against Furman (Sept. 4) and Georgia Southern (Sept. 6). JU finishes its early season tournament schedule with a trip to Mobile, Ala. for the Port City Classic to face South Alabama and Jackson State starting Sept. 11.

After a home match against Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 18), the Dolphins open their 10-game Atlantic Sun slate at USC Upstate on Sept. 25. JU rounds out the weekend at East Tennessee State on Sept. 27.

JU faces Mercer (Oct.2) and Kennesaw State (Oct. 2) before heading on a three-game road stretch to play Florida Gulf Coast (Oct. 9), Stetson (Oct. 11) and Campbell (Oct. 15).

On the flip side, the Dolphins close the regular season with the final three matches at home beginning with cross-town and conference rival North Florida on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. They round out the schedule with defending A-Sun Tournament champion Belmont on Oct. 23 and Lipscomb on Oct. 25.

The road to an NCAA berth will take a new twist as the A-Sun Tournament will stretch into two different weekends starting Oct. 31.

The top six teams will earn a spot into the tournament, while the two highest seeds will get a first round bye. The No. 6 seed travels to face the No. 3 seed at their home field and the other two seeds will follow the same suit for the opening round matches.

The No. 1 seed will host the remaining four teams after the first round for the conference semifinals on Nov. 5. The final two teams will square off in the A-Sun championship game on Nov. 7.

In 2008, the Dolphins recorded the sixth highest win total (9-9-2) in school history and reached the A-Sun semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons. They also won four of their last five regular-season matches, which was the Dolphins' best streak since the 1998 season.