JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Ten home games and two home tournaments highlight the 2009 University of North Florida women's soccer schedule, Head Coach Linda Hamilton announced today. Of the 10 matches at Hodges Stadium, four will come against Atlantic Sun Conference opponents.
“We are really excited about the upcoming season,” said Hamilton. “Playing tough non-conference games like Mississippi State and Georgia Southern will help us prepare for our conference games, and ultimately compete for our conference title, because every game counts.”
After an exhibition match against University of Tampa at home (Aug. 15), the Ospreys open their regular-season Aug. 21 with a home contest against Florida Institute of Technology. Following the FIT match the Ospreys will host the first of two tournaments, facing former Atlantic Sun affiliate Georgia State (Aug. 28) and the Big South's Coastal Carolina (Aug. 30).
UNF will then head across town for Jacksonville University's Tournament. The Ospreys will face Georgia Southern on Sept. 4 and Furman on Sept. 6. The following weekend, the Ospreys will trip to Florida Atlantic (Sept. 11) in Boca Raton and finish up at Florida International (Sept. 13).
Following their trip to the Miami area, the Ospreys will host another UNF Tournament. Featured in this tournament will be the SEC's Mississippi State, whom UNF will play on Sept. 18, before going up against The Citadel on Sept. 20.
Conference play will open Sept. 26 with an away match against East Tennessee State. The last time ETSU hosted UNF the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie until the Ospreys scored a game-winning goal with 14 minutes left. The league-opening weekend closes with an afternoon match at USC Upstate (Sept. 27).
The Ospreys come back to Hodges Stadium for two Conference games the next weekend. On Oct. 2, UNF will host Kennesaw State and then Mercer on Oct. 4. The Ospreys lead the all-time series against Mercer 2-1, who were the 2008 A-Sun Tournament champions.
UNF hits the road for four consecutive A-Sun matches beginning with an Oct. 9 meeting at Stetson and then concluding the weekend at Florida Gulf Coast (Oct. 11). The team then travels to Campbell (Oct. 17) and then back to Jacksonville to cross-town rival JU (Oct.19).
After competing in the SunTrust River City Rumble, the Ospreys will have the pleasure of hosting both Lipscomb (Oct. 23) and Belmont (Oct. 25) for the season ending home-stand.
With the University of North Florida becoming a Division I member the Ospreys will be able to compete for an Atlantic Sun Conference Championship for the first time in program history. The A-Sun Tournament will begin on Halloween (Oct.31). Locations for each round of the tournament will be based on regular-season results.
For this new era of UNF soccer the Ospreys have signed seven freshmen and will be returning 12 players who saw significant action on the field.
Of this group, six will be seniors, including forward Katelin Swift who made the Atlantic Sun All-Conference Second Team and goalkeeper Rachel Howard who missed her senior year due to an injury will also be eligible to suit-up for her last season.
In 2008, UNF finished 6-11-2 overall and 3-6-1 in A-Sun play.
To view the entire 2009 schedule click HERE
