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Ten Home Matches Highlight 2015 Bulldog Soccer Schedule
Ten
home dates and 10 contests against NCAA Tournament teams highlight
Mississippi State’s 2015 soccer schedule that was unveiled Thursday.
Three
NCAA Tournament squads appear on the non-conference schedule as
Mississippi State hosts South Alabama and travels to Tampa to face
South Florida and Florida Gulf Coast.
“We really
like the 2015 schedule we put together, and we feel that we have put
together one that is competitive. Exhibition games against good UT
Martin and Memphis teams will really help our young team get prepared
for the season,” Gordon said. “Having 10 games against NCAA teams from
a year ago will certainly help us as we try to take that next step into
postseason play.
“We open the regular season
against a dangerous South Alabama team that won its conference and
advanced to the NCAA Tournament the last two years. We also have a
tough road trip against a pair of NCAA teams in South Florida and
Florida Gulf Coast, so we have a challenging non-conference slate that
is really going to get us ready for our SEC opener against a good
Vanderbilt squad.”
Seven of the team’s 11 SEC
matches will be against NCAA Tournament teams with home dates against
Missouri, Kentucky, Florida and Auburn, and road dates against
Arkansas, Texas A&M and Georgia. Of those, Kentucky advanced to the
third round while Florida made the quarterfinals and Texas A&M the
semifinals.
The Bulldogs open Aaron Gordon’s third
season at the helm with a road exhibition against Tennessee Martin on
Aug. 12 and a home friendly against Memphis on Aug. 15.
The
regular season kicks off when South Alabama, who lost to eventual NCAA
champion Florida State in the postseason, comes to Starkville on Aug.
21. Opening weekend concludes with a home date against Murray State two
days later.
State hits the road for the first
time when it faces NCAA Tournament squads South Florida (Aug. 28) and
Florida Gulf Coast (Aug. 30) in Tampa.
MSU opens
September at home against Nicholls State (Sept. 4) and in-state foe
Southern Miss (Sept. 6) before hitting the road to start SEC play
against Vanderbilt on Sept. 11.
“There’s no easy
games in the Southeastern Conference,” Gordon said. “Having more games
on the road than at home in conference play this season makes it that
much more challenging, so the experience this young team gained last
year will be valuable in having us ready to go.”
The
trek to Nashville begins a three-game road trip as State wraps the
non-conference slate at Lipscomb on Sept. 13 before returning to
conference action at Arkansas on Sept. 20.
The
Maroon and White opens the home SEC slate Sept. 25 against Tennessee
before starting a stretch of five-straight games against NCAA
Tournament teams. State hosts three of those contests – Missouri (Sept.
27), Kentucky (Oct. 11) and Florida (Oct. 16) – while hitting the road
to Texas A&M on Oct. 2 and Georgia on Oct. 9.
Following
a road weekend at LSU (Oct. 23) and Alabama (Oct. 25), the Bulldogs
wrap the regular season at home against Auburn on Oct. 29.
This year’s SEC Tournament will be played in Orange Beach, Ala., Nov. 2-8.
Fans can follow Bulldog soccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching for HailStateSOC.
2015 Mississippi State Soccer Schedule
Date
Day
Opponent
Location
Time
Aug. 12
Wed.
at UT Martin
(Exhibition) Martin,
Tenn.
10 a.m.
AUG. 15
SAT.
MEMPHIS
(Exhibition)
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
AUG. 21
FRI.
SOUTH
ALABAMA
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
AUG 23
SUN.
MURRAY
STATE
STARKVILLE
1 P.M.
Aug. 28
Fri.
vs. Florida Gulf
Coast
Tampa,
Fla.
4 p.m.
AUG. 30
Sun.
at South
Florida
Tampa,
Fla.
9:30 a.m.
SEPT. 4
FRI.
NICHOLLS
STATE
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
SEPT. 6
SUN.
SOUTHERN
MISS
STARKVILLE
6 P.M.
Sept. 11
Fri.
* at
Vanderbilt
Nashville,
Tenn.
7 p.m.
Sept. 13
Sun.
at
Lipscomb
Nashville,
Tenn.
1 p.m.
Sept. 20
Sun. * at
Arkansas
Fayetteville,
Ark.
12 p.m.
SEPT. 25
FRI. *
TENNESSEE
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
SEPT. 27
SUN. *
MISSOURI
STARKVILLE
1 P.M.
Oct.
2
Fri.
* at Texas
A&M
College Station, Texas 7 p.m.
Oct.
9
Fri.
* at
Georgia
Athens,
Ga.
6 p.m.
OCT. 11
SUN. *
KENTUCKY
STARKVILLE
6 P.M.
OCT. 16
FRI. *
FLORIDA
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
Oct. 23
Fri.
* at
LSU
Baton Rouge,
La.
7 p.m.
Oct. 25
Sun. * at
Alabama
Tuscaloosa,
Ala.
2 p.m.
OCT. 29
THURS. *
AUBURN
STARKVILLE
7 P.M.
Nov.
2-8
SEC
Tournament
Orange Beach, Ala.
Nov. 13 &
15
NCAA First
Rounds
TBA
Nov. 20 &
22
NCAA Second/Third Rounds TBA
Nov.
27-28
NCAA
Quarterfinals
TBA
Dec. 4 &
6
NCAA College
Cup
Cary, N.C.
All Times Central
Home Matches in BOLD CAPS (All Played at the MSU Soccer Field & Free Admission)
* – Denotes Southeastern Conference Match
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