Nine home matches, two marquee events in Florida and contests against nationally ranked opponents highlight the Florida Atlantic University women’s soccer team’s 2010 fall season. The schedule will prepare the young and talented Owls to compete for the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship. The Owls will open the season with a pair of exhibition matches in early August against Florida Gulf Coast University on Thursday, August 12, and New Jersey Institute of Technology on Saturday, August 14. FAU will wrap up the month of August with road matches against in-state rivals Stetson University on Friday, August 20 and nationally-ranked University of Florida on Friday, August 27 – the first contest between the two teams since 2007. “We are going to be young but talented. This will get us a good early season test,” said Brian Dooley, FAU’s women’s soccer head coach. “The schedule was developed to get us tough enough to hopefully advance in the conference tournament.” The home opener will be the first weekend in September when the team welcomes Robert Morris College on Friday, September 3 and Fresno State University on Sunday, September 5. FAU will then participate in a two-game invitational at the University of Miami, playing NCAA Division I tournament foe North Dakota State University on Friday, September 10 and nationally-ranked West Virginia University on Sunday, September 12. “The games in the University of Miami Invitational will give us a chance to play teams that we typically don’t play or have to travel far to get a match against,” said Dooley. “We have played in the tournament in the past and our relationship with the University of Miami has always been: if you offer us a spot, we’ll take it.” FAU concludes the non-conference season with a home match against Fordham University on Sunday, September 19. Sun Belt Conference play begins at home against Arkansas State University on Friday, September 24 and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday, September 26. Other conference home matches include Middle Tennessee State University on Friday, October 8; Western Kentucky University on Sunday, October 10; the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday, October 21; and the regular-season finale against rival Florida International University on Friday, October 29. The Sun Belt Conference Tournament is being hosted by Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Kentucky beginning Wednesday, November 3 through Saturday, November 6. Printable Schedule Discussion
