Men's Soccer Announces 2011 Schedule
7/1/2011 2:47:00 PM | Men's Soccer
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern's 2011 Men's Soccer schedule features seven home matches, as well as non-conference games against local rivals and N.C. State. The 16-game regular season schedule includes seven Southern Conference fixtures and non-conference games against teams from the Big South, Atlantic Sun and Atlantic Coast Conferences. The 2011 season kicks off on Saturday, August 27th on the road against North Florida.
"We think this schedule sets up very well for us," said Head Coach Kevin Kennedy. "It's one of those years where we have four of our seven SoCon games at home and that will be a good thing for our team. Last year we had only five home games and three of those were conference games."
The home opener for the Eagles is against Presbyterian College on September 14th followed by the conference opener against Davidson on Sunday, Sept. 25th. A non-league match against Jacksonville (Sept. 28th) is part of a three-game homestand which ends on Saturday, October 1st versus the College of Charleston. The Eagles play host to Wofford (October 7th) and Appalachian State (Oct. 14th) to close out the home schedule.
"Our trip to Europe this past spring helped us immensely with out preparation this fall," added Kennedy. "We were able to practice longer before the trip and while we were in Europe, we played three games against some very good teams."
Georgia Southern plays two exhibition matches at Eagle Field within a five-day span to prepare for the grueling schedule which includes four stretches of three games in seven days. USC Aiken comes to Statesboro on Wednesday, August 17th, with the final tune-up match coming on Sunday, Aug. 21st, against Lander.
Following the season opener against North Florida, the Eagles play in a pair of tournaments against Big South and Atlantic Sun Conference foes. On Sept. 1st and 3rd, Georgia Southern faces Winthrop and Gardner-Webb in Rock Hill, S.C. A week later, the Eagles travel to Nashville, Tenn., for matches against Belmont (Sept. 9th) and Lipscomb (Sept. 11th).
The Eagles return home on Wednesday, Sept. 14th, to face Presbyterian College. On the following Sunday (Sept. 18th), Georgia Southern travels for an afternoon matinee against Mercer.
The 2011 SoCon opener against Davidson on Sunday, Sept. 25th, kicks off a three-game homestand that spans seven days. It continues against Jacksonville (Sept. 28th.) and concludes versus the College of Charleston on Saturday, Oct. 1st. The Cougars earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships last year with an 11-5-3 overall record.
On Oct. 4th, Georgia Southern travels to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman before the Eagles welcome Wofford to Eagle Field on Friday, Oct. 7th. Four days later, Georgia Southern will travel north to visit N.C. State on Tuesday, October 11th. The trip to Raleigh is the Eagles' eighth such visit into the heart of Tobacco Road and marks the fourth consecutive season that the Eagles have faced an opponent from the ACC.
Georgia Southern wraps up the 2011 home schedule on Friday, Oct. 14th against Appalachian State before taking to the road for the final two regular season games. A trip to Elon (Oct. 22nd) opens the road swing which comes to a close against UNCG on Oct. 25. Last year, Georgia Southern took the SoCon Champion Spartans to overtime in the first round of the SoCon Championships.
On Saturday, November 5th, the Southern Conference Tournament begins with first round games at campus sites. Appalachian State plays host to the semifinal and final rounds of the Championship on November 11th and 13th at the ASU Soccer Stadium in Boone, N.C.
Fans may follow the Georgia Southern Men's Soccer on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or get short updates on facebook.com/GSAthletics or twitter.com/GSAthletics.
