Men's Soccer Announces 2012 Schedule
6/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY - The UB men's soccer team released its schedule Thursday afternoon, with a 10-game non-conference schedule and seven games against Mid-American Conference foes, including new member West Virginia. The Bulls will also renew rivalries with three regional non-conference opponents.
"We are excited about the upcoming fall season, and have arranged a very competitive schedule that will prepare us for MAC play," interim head coach David Hesch said. "I feel we have a very competitive non-conference schedule that will set us up for the traditional MAC foes. We have a very experienced team comming back and are adding some very good freshman, this will make us very dangerous for whomever we play."
After a pair of exhibition games in early August, the Bulls will face a pair of Big Four opponents to open the regular season. The team will face Canisius at Demske Sports Complex on Aug. 24 to start the season before opening its home schedule at UB Stadium with a night game against St. Bonaventure Aug. 28. That game begins a four-game home stand that includes matches against Binghamton (Aug. 31, for the first time since 2004), Siena (Sept. 2), and Detroit (Sept. 7).
The team will then set out for three road contests starting on Sept. 9 at Cornell. Then it will take on NJIT Sept. 14 before facing Stony Brook for the first time in the regular season since 1990. The non-conference season will draw to an end with two more home games, against Albany (9/21) and Robert Morris (9/23).
The MAC season opens with a road match against defending regular season champion Akron on Sept. 29. After that, the team will play at West Virginia Oct. 7 and Bowling Green Oct. 13 before opening the home conference slate with a pair of Friday games on Oct. 19 and 26 against Florida Atlantic and Western Michigan, respectively.
After traveling to Hartwick on Oct. 30, the regular season will close with a match against defending MAC tournament champions Northern Illinois on Nov. 2. Last season, the Bulls upset the 18th-ranked Huskies 2-1 in double overtime in DeKalb before falling 1-0 in the conference tournament semifinal.
