June 30, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - UMass Head Women's Soccer Coach Jim Rudy has announced the Minutewomen's 2008 schedule. The schedule includes 18 games including vs. New England rivals Holy Cross, New Hampshire, Maine, and Providence along with five home Atlantic 10 matches featuring powers Charlotte, Saint Louis, and Dayton. The Minutewomen will also help welcome Bryant University to Division I, marking the second sport (along with football) that the two schools will play. Last year, the Bulldogs were dominant, finishing 17-2-5 while hosting NCAA Tournament Regionals and advancing to the NCAA Second Round.

"It's an interesting schedule and on paper, once again, it's one of the harder A-10 schedules," Rudy said. "[Every game is] important because we're a much younger team. This is the most new players I've ever had in a season at UMass. It makes the games very, very important.

"We have some new teams on [the nonconference slate] that we haven't seen and some new venues we haven't played at [Binghamton and Providence]," he continued. "I expect all those teams to be better than they were last year."

Rudy knows that the A-10 schedule will be a challenge as it always is. "There is a lot of wear and tear in the conference season," he said. "Even when you're at home, playing a Friday/Sunday is a lot to handle. That's a Friday/Sunday routine all the way from the end of September until the end of the season [in November]. It gets to be a real grind."

The Minutewomen, who finished with an undefeated non-conference record last season, open the year with a pair of home exhibition contests vs. St. Rose on Aug. 16 and Army on Aug. 20. The regular season kicks off on Aug. 24 when they travel to Binghamton to face the Bearcats. Five days later, UMass heads to Maine where they will face the Black Bears at a neutral location (York High School).

UMass renews its rivalry with New Hampshire in the Home Opener on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 4:30 p.m., kicking off a three-game homestand that concludes with tilts vs. Bryant and Holy Cross. The team closes out its non-conference slate with games at Albany on Sept. 17 and Providence on the 21st.

The conference season will continue to be challenging as UMass will face every A-10 team except Saint Joseph's (14th in last season's standings) and Duquesne (second). The Minutewomen will host perennial powers Charlotte, Saint Louis, Dayton, and Xavier along with St. Bonaventure in the A-10 opener on Sept. 26. Six road tilts feature Temple, George Washington Richmond, Rhode Island, La Salle, and Fordham. The Minutewomen are looking to qualify for the A-10 Tournament for the first time since, 2004, which will be held from Nov. 6-9 in St. Louis, Mo.

Be sure to check back to umassathletics.com for team updates as UMass looks to ride 2007 success into a 2008 postseason berth.

2008 Women's Soccer Schedule
Date 	        Opponent	Time
Sat., Aug 16	St. Rose (exhib)2:00
Wed., Aug 20	Army (exhib)	5:00
Sun., Aug 24	at Binghamton	1:00
Fri., Aug 29	vs. Maine*	4:00
Thur., Sept 4	UNH     	4:30
Wed., Sept 10	Bryant          4:00
Sun., Sept 14	Holy Cross	1:00
Wed., Sept 17	at Albany	TBA
Sun., Sept 21	at Providence	4:00
Fri., Sept 26	St. Bonaventure	12:00
Sun., Sept 28	at Temple	1:00
Fri., Oct 3	at GW   	4:00
Sun., Oct 5	at Richmond	1:00
Fri., Oct 10	Xavier  	3:30
Sun., Oct 12	Dayton          1:00
Thur., Oct 16	at Rhode Island	7:00
Fri., Oct 24	at La Salle	7:00
Sun., Oct 26	at Fordham	1:00
Fri., Oct 31	St Louis	3:00
Sun., Nov 2	Charlotte	1:00
November 6th - 9th 	A-10 conference championship
	St Louis, MO
* at York Highschool