Marquette University Athletics
Women's Soccer Announces 2008 Schedule
6/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
June 18, 2008
MILWAUKEE -
2008 Women's Soccer Schedule
2008 Women's Soccer Schedule in PDF Format 
Matches against 10 NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago highlight the Marquette University women's soccer schedule announced today by head coach Markus Roeders. Of those 10 contests, seven will be played at Valley Fields.
"Our 2008 schedule will be among the toughest in the history of our program," said Roeders. "We will challenge ourselves with a terrific non-conference schedule and the teams in the BIG EAST will be tougher than ever. Ten of our opponents played in the NCAA tournament last fall and playing post-season soccer is one of our goals. The non-conference portion will prepare us for our rugged BIG EAST schedule and we will be tested once we get into league play. We believe that our squad has great balance with experienced and young players and that should serve us well."
After an exhibition against Wisconsin at Valley Fields, the Golden Eagles will open a tough non-conference slate that features six matches against teams that made an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. MU's exhibition against Wisconsin highlights the second annual Fan Fest on Saturday, Aug. 16, and is the first match of a doubleheader with the men's team.
"All of us, including our fans, should be excited about the early slate of six home matches to kick off the season. Wisconsin is an exhibition match but we look forward to the game. It comes in the middle of pre-season but the activities around Fan Fest and the doubleheader with the men's program makes it an intriguing match to start the year.
First up for Marquette is its home opener against Loyola (Ill.) on Sunday, Aug. 24. Following its contest with the reigning Horizon League Tournament Champion, Marquette will host NCAA Tournament participants Samford and Ohio State on Friday, Aug. 29 and Sunday, Aug. 31, respectively.
UW-Milwaukee makes a quick trip to Valley Fields for a Wednesday nightcap on Sept. 3. Marquette will then welcome another 2007 NCAA Tournament participant, BYU, on Sept. 6.
"Loyola, Ohio State and Samford were part of the NCAA's last year and we expect a variety of styles of play. Playing UW-Milwaukee always raises the excitement level since many of the players on both sides know each other. It will definitely be a night for a huge crowd. BYU might be unknown in our area but they are extremely talented and always among the top teams in the country," said Roeders.
Marquette's first road trip of the season will be to Auburn, Ala., where it will play in the Auburn Classic and face another pair of teams that appeared in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles will play South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 12, and Auburn on Sunday, Sept. 14.
Marquette will travel to Tampa, Fla., to open its BIG EAST slate at USF on Friday, Sept. 19. The Golden Eagles will return home to play its final non-conference match of the season against Pepperdine on Sunday, Sept. 21.
"USF will be young but dangerous. Our expectation is that every BIG EAST game will be a grind. Pepperdine plays attractive soccer and it should be an entertaining non-conference match versus a team from the West Coast Conference," Roeders said.
The Golden Eagles will hit the road to play at Providence on Thursday, Sept. 25, before returning home to host Connecticut, a team that advanced to the 2007 NCAA Quarterfinals. A four-game BIG EAST road tilt follows for MU with its first stop at DePaul on Friday, Oct. 3. Marquette will travel to national semifinalist Notre Dame on Sunday, Oct. 5. From there, MU will head to the East Coast for a pair of matches in the Empire State at St. John's and Syracuse.
The Golden Eagles will close out the regular season with home matches against Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. Along with Connecticut, the Mountaineers also advanced to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals last season.
"Our BIG EAST slate is difficult, but we are fortunate to host our last four games at Valley Fields. The goal is to keep building on our success over the past few years and the focus has to be the BIG EAST Conference and the American Division," said Roeders.
The BIG EAST Tournament will commence on Thursday, Oct. 30 at campus sites, while Notre Dame will play host to the conference tournament semifinal and championship matches Nov. 7-9.
