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UNCG announces 2010 women's soccer slate
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro's 2010 women's soccer team will take on five teams that competed in last season's NCAA tournament, including a pair of ranked teams, coach Eddie Radwanski announced Wednesday.
The 2010 slate is the latest in a string of daunting schedules put together by Radwanski for his Spartans, who went 13-7 overall and 9-2 in the Southern Conference last season, winning their fourth straight regular-season league title and playing both national finalists, North Carolina and Stanford, to 1-0 games.
This year's squad will open with home exhibitions against 2009 NCAA teams High Point and Duke, on Aug. 11 and 14, respectively. UNCG defeated both teams during the regular season last year, downing the Panthers 4-0 and knocking off the 11th-ranked Blue Devils 1-0.
The Spartans open the regular season on Aug. 20 at home against East Carolina, then head to Wake Forest - which finished the 2009 season ranked No. 8 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll - for an Aug. 23 tilt. The Demon Deacons took a 2-1 win over UNCG last season and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.
UNCG will face Utah in Athens, Ga., on Aug. 29, then head out to California for a pair of games at Cal State Fullerton's tournament. The Spartans will face Southern Cal there on Sept. 3 and the host Titans on Sept. 5. The Trojans, an NCAA tourney team in 2009, finished last season ranked No. 24 in the nation.
The Spartans will return home for their final two nonconference games, hosting Charlotte on Sept. 10 and Old Dominion on Sept. 19. The 49ers were receiving votes in the final NSCAA poll last season.
UNCG kicks off Southern Conference play on Sept. 24 at Chattanooga, and faces Samford in Birmingham, Ala., two days later.
A season-long four-game homestand follows, as UNCG will host Georgia Southern (Oct. 1), Davidson (Oct. 3), The Citadel (Oct. 8) and College of Charleston (Oct. 10) on back-to-back weekends. Last season, Davidson snapped UNCG's 33-match unbeaten streak in SoCon play and took a 1-0 win in the semifinals of the SoCon Championship. The Wildcats would go on to win the tournament and earn the league's NCAA bid.
Next up for the Spartans is a trip to South Carolina's Upstate for matches at Wofford on Oct. 15 and Furman on Oct. 17, kicking off a stretch of four out of five games on the road to end the regular season.
UNCG's final home contest will be against Western Carolina on Oct. 21, followed by games at Appalachian State (Oct. 24) and Elon (Oct. 27) to close out the regular season. UNCG and Elon finished the season with each other in 2009, as well, with the regular-season title being decided that night. The Spartans prevailed 1-0.
With the SoCon Championship reverting back to an eight-team tournament this year, the top four seeds will host quarterfinal contests on Oct. 31. The semifinals and championship match will be Nov. 5 and 7, respectively.
The Spartans return five All-SoCon performers in 2010, including SoCon Co-Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Tabitha Padgett, Jenn Partenheimer, Kristin Player, Cat Barnekow and Kelsey Kearney. Rising sophomore Lauren Hein joined Padgett on the All-Freshman Team.
2010 UNCG women's soccer schedule
Aug. 11 High Point (exh.), 7 p.m.; Aug. 14 Duke (exh.), 7 p.m.; Aug. 20 East Carolina, 5 p.m.; Aug. 23 at Wake Forest, 7 p.m.; Aug. 29 vs. Utah (in Athens, Ga.), 11 a.m.; Sept. 3 vs. Southern Cal (at Cal State Fullerton Tournament), 8 p.m.; Sept. 5 at Cal State Fullerton (at Cal State Fullerton Tournament), 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 10 Charlotte, 7 p.m.; Sept. 19 Old Dominion, 2 p.m.; Sept. 24 at Chattanooga*, 7 p.m.; Sept. 26 at Samford*, 2 p.m.; Oct. 1 Georgia Southern*, 7 p.m.; Oct. 3 Davidson*, 2 p.m.; Oct. 8 The Citadel*, 7 p.m.; Oct. 10 College of Charleston*, 1 p.m.; Oct. 15 at Wofford*, 7 p.m.; Oct. 17 at Furman*, 2 p.m.; Oct. 21 Western Carolina*, 6 p.m.; Oct. 24 at Appalachian State*, 2 p.m.; Oct. 27 at Elon*, 7 p.m.; Oct. 31 SoCon quarterfinals (top four seeds host), TBA; Nov. 5-7 at Southern Conference Championship, TBA.
All times Eastern; * - Southern Conference match
