Women's Soccer | 6/5/2017 10:10:00 AM

STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern head women's soccer coach Brian Dunleavy will enter his fifth season at the helm of the program and on Monday, he announced the Eagles' Fall 2017 regular-season schedule featuring 17 games, which include eight home contests, and a full Sun Belt Conference slate.

This year will mark the 25^th year anniversary of the program's beginning. The Eagles began their women's soccer program in 1993 and won the SoCon championship in 2012.

"We are very excited about this 2017 schedule," head coach Brian Dunleavy said. "We are playing four teams that we've never played before Florida Gulf Coast, Siena, Montana, and Washington State. Our program will make its first ever trip to the West Coast for the WSU Tournament, which will be an awesome experience for our student-athletes. We have some familiar non-conference opponents as well that have always challenged us in the past, in Kennesaw State, Gardner-Webb, and South Carolina State. These games will prepare us for a very difficult Sun Belt Conference schedule, our conference is one of the strongest mid major conferences in the country. There is a lot of parity in the Sun Belt and every opponent poses a unique and difficult challenge so we needed to set up a non-conference schedule that will give our players the best preparation possible. We feel that we have accomplished that, and we are eagerly anticipating the start of preseason."

Included in the Eagles' 17 opponents are 13 teams that played into the postseason in 2016, highlighted by two NCAA Tournament participants. Both teams fell to SEC opponents, with Florida Gulf Coast falling to Florida and South Alabama falling to Auburn.

GS will begin the season with a pair of exhibition games at home, hosting Jacksonville University and the University of Georgia. The two home exhibitions will help Dunleavy's team prepare for a quick road non-conference slate of games early in the season. The Eagles will play four road non-conference games within the first month of the season.

Following the pre-season exhibitions, the Eagles will be home for two games to open up the season beginning with Florida Gulf Coast on Friday, Aug. 18. The Blue and White will then host Gardner-Webb on Sunday to cap off opening weekend at Eagle Field.

Georgia Southern will spend the next month on the road, with a bye week in between, wrapping up non-conference play. The Eagles will take on Kennesaw State and Siena in a three day tournament hosted by Mercer University. They will then travel to Pullman, Washington to compete in the Washington State Tournament, where they will play Montana and PAC-12 host, Washington State.

The Eagles will open up conference play on the road on Sept. 15 against Coastal Carolina, before heading to Texas State and Louisiana. Following the seven game road stint, the Blue and White will return home to play South Alabama and Arkansas State on Friday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 1.

For the final road trip of the season the Eagles will head to Appalachian State to face off against the Mountaineers, before heading to Alabama to play Troy. Georgia Southern will return home to a four game home stand to finish off the season. The Eagles will finish non-conference play against South Carolina State, and then shift their attention to in state rival Georgia State on Sunday, Oct. 15.

The Eagles will finish off the season with Arkansas Little Rock and ULM, in preparation for the Sun Belt Tournament on Nov. 3-6.The Sun Belt Tournament will be held in Foley, Alabama.

All home soccer events which are played on Eagle Field at the Erk Russell Athletic Park, adjacent to Paulson Stadium.

2017 Georgia Southern Women's Soccer Schedule
Aug. 10           Jacksonville Univ. (Exh.)      6 PM
Aug. 12           Georgia (Exh.)                       7 PM
Aug. 18           Florida Gulf Coast                 7 PM
Aug. 20           Gardner-Webb                      1 PM
Aug. 25            at. Kennesaw State               4 PM
Aug. 27            at. Siena                                1 PM
Sept. 1             at. Montana                           4 PM
Sept. 3             at. Washington State             1 PM
Sept. 15           at Coastal Carolina *              7 PM
Sept. 22           at Texas State *                     7 PM
Sept. 24           at Louisiana *                         1 PM
Sept. 29          South Alabama *                   7 PM
Oct. 1              Arkansas State *                   1 PM
Oct. 6              at Appalachian State *            7 PM
Oct. 8              at Troy *                                  1 PM
Oct. 11            South Carolina State            6 PM
Oct. 15            Georgia State *                      1 PM
Oct. 20            Little Rock *                           7 PM
Oct. 22            ULM *                                     1 PM
Nov. 3-6          Sun Belt Championships        TBD
 
*- Sun Belt Conference Game
Home games appear in Bold


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