Marquette University Athletics
Women's Soccer Unveils 2006 Schedule
7/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
July 12, 2006
Click here for the 2006 Marquette women's soccer schedule
MIWLAUKEE -- The 2006 Marquette women's soccer schedule has been released and fans of the Golden Eagles will be treated to one of the most competitive slates in program history.
MU will face former NCAA Champion North Carolina on Sept. 15 - while facing off against eight teams which were among the field of 64 in the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
"Our non-conference schedule will help us prepare for the demands of BIG EAST play. Six of our nine non-conference opponents advanced to the NCAA in 2005, so these games will be important as we head into our second year of competition in one of the toughest conferences in the nation." said head coach Markus Roeders, the 2005 BIG EAST Coach of the Year. "We encourage all of our fans to come support us this Fall at Valley Fields."
The Golden Eagles will play an exhibition at Illinois on Aug. 18. MU beat the Fighting Illini, ranked no. 13 at the time, 1-0 at Valley Fields last season. Illinois advanced to the second round of the NCAA's.
The 2006 regular season kicks off with the Milwaukee Cup. Marquette will host Bowling Green - a 2005 NCAA team - on Aug. 25 at Valley Fields before taking on Sacred Heart on Aug. 27 at Englemann Field on the campus of Wis.-Milwaukee.
After a Sept. 1 trip to Des Moines, Ia. to face Drake, the Golden Eagles will travel to face former conference foe Saint Louis on Sept. 6. SLU - a member of Conference USA - advanced to the second round of the NCAA's in 2005.
On Sept. 12, Marquette will host local rival Wis.-Milwaukee in a rematch of the 2005 NCAA Second Round at Valley Fields. MU captured that match, 1-0, on Nov. 15, 2005 while also playing to a scoreless tie earlier in the season at UWM. A match against Wis.-Green Bay on Oct. 17 closes out non-conference play for Marquette.
From Sept. 15-17, the Golden Eagles will participate in the Duke University/adidas Classic, in Durham, N.C. MU will face off against 16-time national champion North Carolina in the opener on Sept. 15, while taking on host Duke on Sept. 17. UNC finished the 2005 campaign ranked no. 2 on the NSCAA National poll, while Duke was no. 10.
"We are continuing to build on our NCAA Sweet 16 performance from last year and in order succeed at the elite level, we embrace the challenge of playing the top teams from around the country." added Roeders.
Marquette will begin its challenging BIG EAST play on Sept. 8 in Tampa against USF. The Golden Eagles' BIG EAST road slate is as follows: Providence (Sept. 24), Rutgers (Sept. 29), Seton Hall (Oct. 1), Syracuse (Oct. 20), and St. John's (Oct. 22)
Connecticut- ranked no. 6 last season - will make its first-ever regular season visit to Valley Fields on Sept. 22 - one of five home conference matches. The others are - Pittsburgh (Oct. 6), West Virginia (Oct. 8), Cincinnati (Oct. 13), and Louisville (Oct. 15).
"Our program is excited to face another challenging schedule in 2006." said Roeders. "The players and coaches will be prepared to compete and the Marquette community and fans will have an opportunity to watch collegiate soccer at the highest level throughout the fall."
This season, the semifinals and finals of the BIG EAST Conference Tournament will be held at Connecticut, on Nov. 3-5. The quarterfinal round will be held on the home field of the higher seed on Oct. 28-29.
