Eleven Home Dates Highlight 2014 Soccer Schedule
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Eleven home dates and eight games against NCAA Tournament teams highlight Mississippi State’s 2014 soccer schedule.
State meets two NCAA Tournament teams – South Alabama and Furman – in the non-conference, while SEC foes Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Texas A&M advanced to the 64-team field.
“Being in the SEC will provide us with maximum competition in terms of quality opponents, but we will also face some good non-conference teams, including South Alabama and Furman squads that went to the NCAA Tournament last season,” second-year coach Aaron Gordon said. “This year’s schedule gives us a nice balance.
“The SEC is always tough, but our preparation leading up to it should be better than it has been before.”
The season begins with a pair of road exhibition games against Memphis (Aug. 13) and Alabama (Aug. 16).
“For the first time in a long time we are playing two preseason games. With all the new additions we have to our team, we need to give them meaningful minutes against two quality programs,” Gordon said.
“We don’t play Alabama during the regular season but both programs realized a preseason game against an SEC opponent is invaluable,” Gordon continued. “Memphis has been to the NCAA Tournament several times and has some great players. Playing both of those clubs will provide us the opportunity to see where we are as a team heading into the regular season.”
The Bulldogs open the home slate against Iowa State on Aug. 22. State closes the weekend two days later with a contest against Cincinnati at the MSU Soccer Field.
“Iowa State finished in the upper half of the Big 12, and Cincinnati had a strong finish in the American Athletic Conference last season, so both of those teams will provide us with early tests,” Gordon said. “Hopefully we can hit the ground running because we have a tough start with six games in 19 days during August.”
State heads to NCAA Tournament participant Furman Aug. 28, and wraps the opening month of the season with an Aug. 31 home contest against in-state foe Southern Miss.
MSU begins September with a road contest at Arkansas State before returning to Starkville for a three-match homestand that opens Sept. 12 against another NCAA Tournament squad, South Alabama.
Mississippi State wraps the non-conference slate at home against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 14.
The Bulldogs host in-state rival Ole Miss to being SEC play Sept. 19. The SEC Network contest will be the first since 1999 that the foes have not met in the conference finale.
State hits the road a week later, trekking to NCAA participant Kentucky Sept. 26 and Tennessee Sept. 28.
Gordon’s unit returns to the home pitch the following weekend to challenge LSU Oct. 3 and Georgia two days later.
Following an Oct. 10 contest at NCAA Tournament participant Florida, the Bulldogs return to the MSU Soccer Field to host Vanderbilt Oct. 17 and another NCAA Tournament squad in Texas A&M on Oct. 19.
MSU heads to Auburn for an Oct. 23 match on the SEC Network and wraps the home slate three days later against Arkansas.
Mississippi State ends the regular season Oct. 30 at South Carolina.
The SEC Tournament will once again be played in Orange Beach, Ala., Nov. 3-9.