Women's Soccer Announces Schedule
6/3/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The 2013 version of the Seton Hall women's soccer schedule has been released by the SHU coaching staff and on it are 18 matches; nine in South Orange and another nine on the road.
The Pirates' loaded nine-match non-conference slate features three defending league champions and four teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and figures to provide a solid barometer as the squad heads into play in the new-look BIG EAST Conference for the first time.
"We know that having a real strong non-conference schedule will pay dividends as we are heading into conference play," said head coach Kazbek Tambi who will be entering his seventh season at the helm of the women's program.
Following preseason tune-ups at home against Drexel University (Aug. 13) and Rider University (Aug. 18), the new campaign kicks-off officially on Friday, August 23 when The Hall hosts 2012 America East Champions Stony Brook in the first of four consecutive matches in the New York/New Jersey area.
The Pirates will then travel to take on Northeast Conference (NEC) Champions LIU-Brooklyn (Aug. 26) in a rematch of the 2012 season-opener before returning home for a Friday night date with the West Point Academy (Aug. 30) later in the week. Completing the stretch of local matches will be a Sept. 2 tilt at a familiar rival in Monmouth as the Pirates and Hawks are set to square off for the 19th time in the last 20 years.
Seton Hall notched shutout victories over both Long Island and Monmouth in 2012, but came up short in a visit to West Point, falling, 1-0.
"Some of the local opponents like Monmouth and West Point are a great challenge," said Tambi. "They have great teams but aside from the level of players on the field, we have developed a rivalry with these schools because of proximity and the fact that we have played them on a regular basis. The atmosphere makes those games that much more exciting."
The weekend following the Monmouth match, SHU will hit the road headed for Charlottesville, Va. to play two matches as part of the University of Virginia Tournament.
The first will be against another opponent that was also on the schedule in 2012 as SHU will play The College of William & Mary on Friday, September 6. The two teams will meet as part of an in-season tournament for the second consecutive year with the Pirates looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat that came during the Villanova Tournament in the previous installment in the series.
Following a day off, Seton Hall will wrap up its trip to the commonwealth with a match against the hosts, the Virginia Cavaliers. SHU and UVA have split a pair of matches in their only two all-time meetings and The Hall will look to score a statement victory by handing a Virginia side that advanced to the round-of-16 and finished 2012 ranked 10th in the nation a loss on their home ground.
Upon their return home, the Pirates will wrap up non-conference competition with three matches in a six-day span. SHU will play host to reigning Ivy League Champions Princeton (Sept. 12) and Marist College (Sept. 18) with a visit to the University of Delaware for a Sunday matinee on September 15 sandwiched in between.
"By putting together a difficult non-conference schedule, we hope to be sharp and have a clear picture of our team heading into the BIG EAST portion of our schedule," Tambi said.
In the revamped, 10-team BIG EAST women's soccer landscape, the old system that featured two divisions has been replaced by a more equitable round-robin style format. The Pirates will play each of their conference foes once during a nine-match regular season conference schedule, with the squads vying for one of six spots in the BIG EAST Tournament in addition to the regular season championship.
Five of the Pirates' conference matches will be played within the friendly confines of Owen T. Carroll Field, including their first two league matches of the year. Conference play opens up when Providence College comes to town on Thursday, September 26, and continues when SHU welcomes new conference member Butler University to South Orange on Sunday, September 29 for the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
SHU holds a 7-3 edge over Providence in the all-time series but dropped a 1-0 decision when the teams last met in 2010. The Butler Bulldogs enter the BIG EAST coming off one of the strongest seasons in school history, one in which they advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament in their only season as part of the Atlantic 10.
A subsequent trip to Chicago to take on DePaul (Oct. 3) provides a break in a four-match run during which the Pirates will become well-acquainted with their trio of new conference mates. Following the showdown with the Blue Demons, SHU will get its first look at Creighton University in a home match on Sunday, October 6 before heading to Ohio for the inaugural meeting with Xavier University (Oct. 12).
Seton Hall and DPU have met in every season since DePaul began play in the conference in 2005, building a competitive rivalry that has seen six of the eight matches decided by one goal or end in a tie.
Creighton comes from the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and returns seven of 10 goal scorers from 2012, highlighted by MVC All-Freshman Team honorees Kaelyn Korte and Jill Richgels. Xavier posted six wins last season and brings back their leading scorer in Mariah Whitaker and also returns Katie Markesbery in net.
The Pirates will play their final two home games of the regular season against defending conference champions Marquette (Oct. 17) and Villanova (Oct. 20) before closing the year with away matches at St. John's (Oct. 27) and Georgetown (Nov. 2).
This final stretch will be a tough test for the Pirates given SHU's long-standing rivalries with STJ and Villanova combined with the fact that both Marquette and Georgetown represented the BIG EAST in last year's NCAA Tournament.
The 2013 BIG EAST Championship will feature a new format, with the top six teams in the conference standings qualifying for postseason play.
The top-two seeds will receive a bye into the conference semifinals, while the three through six seeds will play on campus sites in the BIG EAST quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The BIG EAST semifinals and championship will take place Friday-Sunday, Nov. 10-12 and will be hosted by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisc.
SHU will be looking to return to the conference championship after previously qualifying in 2011; ending a four-year drought.
This is a challenge that Tambi firmly believes his squad will be ready for.
"We have a great class of incoming freshman that will add to a team that has been improving year to year," said the Pirates' head man. "We lost a couple of great seniors but the vast majority of players that played full time are coming back. These girls are very experienced and are well-versed in what to expect at this level and in BIG EAST play. When you add a crop of talented freshmen who are thrilled to be joining the group, it is a combination that we are very excited about and we fully expect this team to be able to step out and compete with anybody."
