Soccer teams announce 2012 schedules

After winning the Atlantic Sun championship’s last season, both the men and women’s soccer teams announced their schedules for the 2012 campaign.

For the men, the 17-game slate will feature nine home contests and includes five matches against opponents that competed in the NCAA Tournament a season ago.

“We are very pleased with the overall quality of the opponents on our 2012 schedule,” FGCU men’s head coach Bob Butehorn said. “The combination of the different styles of play along with the outstanding pedigree of the opposing coaches will provide a fantastic opportunity for us this season.”

Aside from the eight A-Sun contests, the Green and Blue will square off in nine non-conferences matches against teams from the MAC, BIG EAST, Patriot, Conference USA, MAAC, CAA and SoCon. Six of the opponents on the upcoming slate finished the 2011 season in the top 50 of the RPI, including three in the top 25.

The Eagles start on the road for two games that include 2010 national champion Akron Zips and Georgetown Aug. 24 and 27th.  Their first home game will be Sept. 2 against Bucknell.

FGCU will play in two tournaments this year where they will face South Carolina and Iona in the USF tournament in Tampa, Fl.

After that, they will head home to host the FGCU-Courtyard By Marriott Classic, where they will face Virginia Commonwealth and Furman.

The last two non-conference games will be against UCF and USF Sept. 22 and 25, respectively.  The Eagles look to avenge a loss to UCF in the NCAA tournament last year losing 1-0 in double OT in Orlando.

Conference play begins with the Eagles facing new member Northern Kentucky on the road Oct. 4 and continues through till the A-Sun tournament Nov. 7-11.

On the women’s side, the nine-game non-conference schedule features five teams that earned a spot in their respective conference tournaments and won nine or more games.

“I am excited about defending our title and about the level of competition in our non-conference schedule,” women’s head coach Jim Blankenship said. “This will have us well prepared for the conference season, and we hope to have another successful season with another postseason run.”

The Lady Eagles open the 2012 schedule with five straight home matches. The season opens Aug. 17 against D-II school Lynn University and then C-USA foe UCF on Aug. 19.

In the FGCU-Courtyard By Marriott Classic, the Eagles will face off against Wisconsin-Greenbay and Illinois State. They wrap up the home stand with a matchup against Sun Belt foe FIU on Aug. 31. That is their last home game until Sept. 28.

They play two more tournaments before conference play. In the UMKC Tournament in Kansas City, they will face off against Tulsa and Saint Louis.  They then head to Flagstaff Arizona to face off against Northern Arizona and Utah Valley in the NAU Tournament.

After that they start conference play visiting USC Upstate on Sept. 21 and continuing conference play until Nov. 4 when the A-Sun tournament ends.