Men's soccer releases 2009 schedule
Georgia Southwestern State University head men's soccer coach Warren Russ has released the program's 2009 schedule that features ten home matches, seven road contests and one match at a neutral site.
GSW starts the 2009 campaign with a Florida swing, opening on August 27 at Barry University (11-6-1 record in 2008), followed by a match Aug. 29 at Nova Southeastern (10-9-1).
The ‘Canes return to Americus for their home opener on September 4 against Florida Tech (6-10-1). Matches against Eckerd (11-8) on Sept. 6, Brewton-Parker (2-14-1) Sept. 9 and St. Leo (10-7-1) on Sept. 11 complete a four-game homestand.
Southwestern travels down the road to Thomasville on Sept. 16 to face Thomas University (8-9-1) and heads to Columbus on the 20th to meet Harding (6-10-2) in a neutral site match.
The Hurricanes open Peach Belt Conference play with consecutive home contests, beginning on Sept. 26 against the reigning PBC champions, Francis Marion (14-5-3, 5-0-1 PBC) followed by a match with Lander (12-5-2, 4-1-1) on October 3.
A visit from LaGrange College (3-13-1) on Oct. 7 breaks up the conference portion of the schedule.
Three consecutive PBC road matches - at UNC Pembroke (9-9-1, 2-4) on Oct. 10, at North Georgia (8-11-1, 2-3-1) four days later and finally at PBC newcomer Montevallo (15-6) on the 17th - could prove to be the beginning of a critical stretch run for GSW.
On Oct. 21, Southwestern returns to Hurricane Field to host Clayton State (9-5-4, 3-0-3) before travelling to USC Aiken (5-11-1, 1-5) on the 24th.
The ‘Canes close the regular season with home matches against PBC newcomer Flagler (11-5-2) on Oct. 28 and Spring Hill (4-11-3) on the 31st.
The Peach Belt Conference Tournament begins on Nov. 3 with the quarterfinals being played on the campus of the higher seed. The tournament moves to Blanchard Woods Park in Evans for semifinal and championship action on Nov. 6-8.
With nine returning starters and a solid cast of newcomers, the Hurricanes will be looking to improve on their 3-15 campaign last fall, which was a three-win improvement from 2007.
Click here for a downloadable version of the 2009 men's soccer schedule.