2008 UNCG men's soccer slate announced

GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro men’s soccer coach Michael Parker unveiled his squad’s 2008 schedule Thursday, featuring 10 home dates including the annual UNCG Kickoff Classic.

UNCG is coming off a 11-8-2 season. After losing five of its top six scorers, including two All-Americans, from a group that went to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 three consecutive years, the Spartans battled their way through somewhat of a rebuilding year. Yet, UNCG still managed to make it to the Southern Conference Tournament title game.

“Obviously our goal every year is a conference championship and to make the NCAA Tournament,” said Parker, the winningest active coach in Division I. “However, considering the losses we suffered from the previous year and how far we came as a squad during the season, I can’t say we were entirely disappointed with our effort last season.

“We look at this schedule and see its share of challenges. Winthrop and Old Dominion have been solid programs that last couple of years, as has Brown. Going on the road out of conference to William & Mary, Charlotte and Wake Forest are great tests. We’ll need that because this is the year in the conference rotation where some of the traditionally tougher matches – Davidson, Furman, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern – are all on the road. That’s one of those quirks in the schedule that we face every other year, and we have to be ready for it in order to win the league.”

The Spartans will open their home slate with an exhibition match against Gardner-Webb on Saturday night, August 23. UNCG’s first exhibition match is slated for Aug. 20 at Duke.

The regular season campaign gets underway on the road at William & Mary on Aug. 30. UNCG will return home to host the Kickoff Classic on Friday, Sept. 5 when Old Dominion faces Elon at 5 pm and UNCG hosts Winthrop at 7:30 pm. The Spartans will face Old Dominion at 2:30 on Sunday, Sept. 7 to close out the tournament, preceded by Elon and Winthrop at 12 noon.

The following weekend, UNCG will head up I-40 to play in Elon’s tourney against East Tennessee State and UNC Asheville, before returning home on Sept. 17 to host Campbell. The Spartans close out September with a home game against UNC Wilmington (Sept. 20), a road date at Charlotte (Sept. 24) and a home date Sept. 27.

The Spartans open the month of October at Davidson and Furman before hosting Wofford on Oct. 7 and High Point on Oct. 11. UNCG will then visit Wake Forest for its annual matchup on October 14 and return to conference action Oct. 18 at College of Charleston. The Spartans will close out the regular season with home games against Elon (Oct. 25) and Appalachian State (Nov. 1) and a trip to Georgia Southern (Nov. 4).

The Southern Conference tournament will follow the same format as it has recently. Higher seeded teams will host quarterfinal round games on Nov. 8, while the semifinals and finals will be hosted this season by Davidson on Nov. 14 and 16.

Soccer season tickets – good for all UNCG men’s and women’s soccer games – will go on sale beginning Monday, July 7. Adult season tickets are available for $54, with youth and senior citizen tickets available for a season rate of $36. A family four-pack of season tickets is also available for $144.

AGATE

2008 UNCG Men’s Soccer Schedule: Aug. 20 at Duke (exh), 7 pm; Aug. 23 GARDNER-WEBB (exh), 7 pm; Aug. 30 at William & Mary, 7 pm; Sept. 5 WINTHROP (UNCG KICKOFF CLASSIC), 7:30 pm; Sept. 7 OLD DOMINION (UNCG KICKOFF CLASSIC), 2:30 pm; Sept. 12 vs. East Tennessee State (at Elon Tournament), 5 pm; Sept. 14 vs. UNC Asheville (at Elon Tournament), 1 pm; Sept. 17 CAMPBELL, 7 pm; Sept. 20 UNC WILMINGTON, 7 pm; Sept. 24 at Charlotte, 7 pm; Sept. 27 BROWN, 7 pm (HOMECOMING); Oct. 1 at Davidson, 7 pm; Oct. 4 at Furman, 7 pm; Oct. 7 WOFFORD, 7 pm; Oct. 11 HIGH POINT, 7 pm; Oct. 14 at Wake Forest, 7 pm; Oct. 18 at College of Charleston, 7 pm; Oct. 25 ELON, 7 pm; Nov. 1 APPALACHIAN STATE, 7 pm; Nov. 4 at Georgia Southern, 2 pm; Nov. 8 at Southern Conference Tournament opening round (campus sites), TBA; Nov. 14 & 16 at Southern Conference Tournament semifinals and final (Davidson, NC), TBA.

- UNCG -