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.