Women’s Soccer Announces 2015 Slate
The schedule for the defending Northeast Conference champion Blue Devils features a 17-game slate, highlighted with seven home matches on the CCSU Soccer Field.
Head coach Mick D'Arcy and the Central Connecticut women's soccer team has finalized its schedule for the upcoming 2015 soccer season. The schedule for the defending Northeast Conference champion Blue Devils features a 17-game slate, highlighted with seven home matches on the CCSU Soccer Field.
2015 CCSU WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
The Blue Devils will kick off the 2015 campaign with two tough tournaments hosted by Fairfield and Yale. They will first travel to Fairfield where they will open up the season against Stony Brook on Friday, August 28 at 4:30 p.m.
"Stony Brook, under head coach Sue Ryan, has been one of the top teams in the America East in recent years. It's our season opener, but will be the third game for Stony Brook, who opens up one week ahead of us and should provide us a great test," said D'Arcy who enters his 16th season at the helm of the women's soccer program.
CCSU will then face the host team, Fairfield, on Sunday, August 30 at 2 p.m. to complete play at the Fairfield Tournament.
The Blue Devils then compete the following weekend at the Yale Tournament, squaring off in the first round against UMass-Amherst on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. CCSU then wraps up the tournament against Hofstra on Sunday, September 6 at noon.
"It's been a few years since we last played Hofstra. They were a top-40 team last season with one of the best attacking combinations in the country," D'Arcy added.
Central then welcomes Boston University to the CCSU Soccer Field for their home opener on Friday, September 11 at 7 p.m.
"Our home opener against Boston University will be a huge test. BU spent most of last year in the nation's top-20. Coach Nancy Feldman has built a genuine national contender and we are really excited to be playing them here in New Britain."
A contest on the road against Siena follows on September 13 before the Blue Devils return to New Britain to face intrastate rival UConn on Friday, September 18 at 7 p.m. CCSU hosts the Huskies for the second consecutive season for a Friday night match under the lights on the CCSU Soccer Field.
"It's always a great atmosphere here on campus when we play them and we will expect another great crowd at the game like last season," said D'Arcy on the UConn match. "We both were also the only two Connecticut DI schools to win their conference championships last season and play in the NCAA's."
Central follows the match against UConn with another home contest against UMass-Lowell on September 20 before opening up their eight-game Northeast Conference slate.
The Blue Devils open NEC play at home on October 4 against LIU Brooklyn at 3 p.m. They then head on a four-game road trip with NEC contests at Mount St. Mary's (10/9), Fairleigh Dickinson (10/11) and Sacred Heart (10/16) before completing the tour with a non-conference match against Yale (10/19).
CCSU returns to NEC action with a pair of contests at home against Robert Morris on October 23 and Saint Francis U on October 25. They then travel to Bryant on October 30 before concluding the regular season at home against Wagner on November 1 at 11 a.m.
"Looking around the league this season there appears to be a great parity amongst the NEC schools and I'm expecting a tight race for the top four spots and qualification for the post-season," said D'Arcy on his expectations for NEC play this season.
The NEC Tournament will be played on the home field of the regular season champion and will take place Nov. 6 and 8. The top four regular season finishers will qualify for the single elimination tournament.