GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro men’s soccer coach Michael Parker announced his 2006 schedule Thursday, featuring 10 regular-season home matches and the most challenging road schedule that the Spartans have faced in quite some time.
Parker’s squad will open the exhibition season against Duke on August 16 at UNCG Soccer Stadium in a pre-season clash of national powers. The Spartans will open regular season play nine days later when they host Jacksonville on August 25. UNCG will also entertain Stetson, Campbell, Belmont and UAB in the UNCG Classic, Coastal Carolina, Elon (in Darren Powell’s first trip back to his alma mater), Wofford, Appalachian State and High Point.
But it is the road schedule where Parker’s Spartans may be best challenged. UNCG will take on Virginia Commonwealth (Sept. 2), Old Dominion (Sept. 17), Davidson (Sept. 26), College of Charleston (Oct. 11), Wake Forest (Oct. 18), Furman (Oct. 20) and Akron (Oct. 24) all away from the friendly confines of UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Akron was last year’s Cinderella story, sitting atop the national rankings for several weeks as the last unbeaten in the country, the same way UNCG did in 2004. The Zips, 18-1-4 last year and ranked No. 5 to finish the season, return eight starters from that squad to make another run under new head coach Caleb Porter, who made the move over from Indiana this past winter.
In addition, Wake Forest (13-8-2, No. 12) and Old Dominion (15-4-2, No. 21) have been Top 25 programs each of the last few years, while VCU looks to return to the Top 25 after a stumble last year. Back into the conference slate, Davidson, College of Charleston and Furman have been right alongside UNCG in the battle for the league title for the last several years and will look to continue that in 2006.
“We have gone out of our way to create as challenging a schedule as possible this season,” said Parker, the winningest active coach in NCAA Division I with 451 career wins. “With seven starters returning from last season and a very good incoming class, we feel good about the squad that we have coming back. But there is no question that they will have their ability measured several times on unfriendly grounds with the slate we have lined up for 2006.”
UNCG returns seven starters and 17 players from last year’s squad led by All-Americans Randi Patterson and Scott Jones. The Spartans advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16 each of the last two seasons. Last year, UNCG went 16-6-1 and finished No. 18 in the final Top 25, sharing the Southern Conference regular season title and winning the SoCon Tournament. UNCG lost in the NCAA Third Round to eventual semifinalist SMU.
Season tickets for UNCG men’s soccer will go on sale July 1. For more information, contact the UNCG ticket office at (336) 334-3250.
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2006 UNCG Men's Soccer Schedule
Aug. 16 Duke (exh.), 7 pm
Aug. 19 Alumni (exh.), 2 pm
Aug. 25 Jacksonville, 7 pm
Aug. 27 Stetson, 1 pm
Aug. 30 Campbell, 7 pm
Sept. 2 at VCU, 7 pm
UNCG Classic
Sept. 8 Elon vs. Belmont, 5 pm / UNCG vs. UAB, 7:30 pm
Sept. 10 Elon vs. UAB, 1 pm / UNCG vs. Belmont, 3:30 pm
Old Dominion Tournament
Sept. 15 vs. Wm. & Mary 4:30 pm
Sept. 17 at Old Dominion, 2:30 pm
Sept. 20 *at Georgia Southern, 5 pm
Sept. 23 Coastal Carolina, 7 pm
Sept. 26 *at Davidson, 7 pm
Sept. 30 *Elon, 7 pm
Oct. 3 *Wofford, 7 pm
Oct. 7 *Appalachian State, 7 pm
Oct. 11 *at College of Charleston, 6 pm
Oct. 14 High Point, 7 pm
Oct. 18 at Wake Forest, 7 pm
Oct. 20 *at Furman, TBA
Oct. 24 at Akron, 7 pm
Oct. 28 SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals (at campus sites)
Nov. 3-5 SoCon Tournament Semifinals/Finals (site TBA)
* Southern Conference match
- UNCG -