University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Soccer Announces 2016 Schedule
06.28.2016 | Men's Soccer
ASHEVILLE, N.C. –The UNC Asheville men's soccer team will play eight home matches this fall as part of its 20-game 2016 schedule, released this afternoon by head coach Mathes Mennell.
The Bulldogs finished with a 6-12-1 overall record last season in Mennell's first season at the helm. Mennell and the Bulldogs return 18 players from last year's squad and adds 10 new players into the mix.
The 2016 campaign will feature three regular season non-conference and four Big South Conference matchups at Greenwood Field, with the Bulldogs also hosting Georgia Southern in a home exhibition.
“We are very excited about our 2016 schedule. Obviously, the Big South in 2015 showed the nation that we play in a very competitive conference with great quality. With three Big South teams advancing to the NCAA tournament in 2015, it shows the great depth we have in our conference. With this depth in mind, we thought it was important to again play a schedule that will fully prepare us for Big South play,” Mennell stated.
“Our 2016 schedule is truly homage to the adage that you have to beat the best to be the best. We have the honor of playing excellent programs from a wide range of conferences. When you challenge yourself against the top sides from the Southern, the ACC, the Colonial, the Atlantic Sun, the Atlantic 10, and the Sun Belt, you can only improve your play and the overall student athlete experience. This schedule will provide a great forum to gauge our process as we continue towards our annual goal of being Big South Champions.”
Following the exhibition contest against Georgia Southern on August 20, Asheville will open the regular season with five matches on the road, taking on both Elon and Duke in Durham over the opening weekend of action before a pair of games in Florida against Jacksonville and Stetson. The road trip ends with a match at Davidson College.
Four of the Bulldogs' next five matches will come at home, with the lone road trip to ETSU (Sept. 18) sandwiched between home matches against UNC Greensboro (Sept. 11), Georgia State (Sept. 21), Longwood (Sept. 24) and Appalachian State (Sept. 27) at Greenwood Field.
Following a road match at Liberty (Oct. 1), Asheville hosts Gardner-Webb on October 5 in conference action before a three-game road trip that features both Big South action (Campbell – Oct. 8; High Point – Oct. 15) and non-conference opponent (North Carolina – Oct. 11;)
The Bulldogs host Winthrop on October 22 before a final regular season road trip knocks off trips to Presbyterian (Oct. 26) and James Madison (Oct. 29). Asheville's regular season finale comes November 2 against Radford at Greenwood Field before Big South Tournament play begins on November 6. The higher seeds in the Big South Tournament will earn the right to host home games through the Championship game.
