Ten Home Games Highlight 2010 Tulsa Women's Soccer Schedule
6/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
June 17, 2010
Tulsa, Oklahoma - The University of Tulsa's 2010 women's soccer schedule features 10 home games, three contests against NCAA Tournament teams from last year, two teams that finished the 2009 season ranked in the top-25 and interstate rivals Oklahoma and Oral Roberts. The 19 teams on this season's schedule combined for 180 wins last year, averaging 9.47 wins per team.
"We play a very competitive non-conference schedule, which helps us prepare for a challenging league slate," Head Coach Kyle Cussen said. "The team worked very hard in the spring season, improving both mentally and physically, and we have the confidence to compete with anyone in our region."
Tulsa opens the season with a six-game home stretch, beginning with the Crowne Plaza Tulsa Invitational featuring Oral Roberts, Arkansas-Little Rock and Northwestern State at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The Golden Hurricane will take on NSU on Aug. 20th and UALR on Aug. 22nd. TU and the Demons have met the last three seasons, with NSU coming away with a win in each meeting, while Tulsa owns a 14-3-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Trojans.
Oklahoma comes to town on Aug. 27th for just the ninth meeting between the two schools, as the Sooners have tallied six wins in the previous matchups. Two days later, cross-town rival ORU will make the eight-mile trek to TU and the Golden Hurricane will look to extend its current series record of 12-4-4.
Murray State, the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Champions and NCAA Tournament team, will take on Tulsa on Sept. 3rd and TU will face Missouri State on Sept. 5th. This will be the first meeting between the Golden Hurricane and the Racers on the soccer pitch, while Tulsa has a 6-5-1 advantage over the Bears.
TU will make its first road trip of the season to take on Arkansas State on Sept. 10th and will close out the non-conference slate at Central Arkansas on Sept. 12th. The Golden Hurricane has won two of the three meetings with the Red Wolves, but this will be the first matchup with the Bears.
Tulsa will begin Conference USA action with a four-game road swing, including Rice on Sept. 24th, Houston on Sept. 26th, Marshall on Oct. 1st and East Carolina on Oct. 3rd. The Golden Hurricane defeated the Owls, Cougars and Thundering Herd last year, but fell to the Pirates. TU, however, trails the four teams 11-8-2 in the combined overall series.
TU returns home to host Colorado College, a C-USA affiliate school for women's soccer, on Oct. 8th and UTEP on Oct. 10th. Both teams finished the 2009 campaign with double-digit wins, including 12 by the Tigers and 13 by the Miners, and both earned one win apiece over Tulsa. Colorado College has won nine of the 11 previous meetings with the Golden Hurricane, while the Miners took a one-game lead in the all-time series, 7-6-1.
Memphis, which won the 2009 C-USA Tournament title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament first round and finished the season ranked #17 by Soccer America, comes to town on Oct. 15th. The Tigers netted a 1-0 victory over TU last year, taking a 4-1 advantage in the series.
Two-days later, on Oct. 17th, Tulsa will face UAB for just the sixth time in school history. The Blazers earned a 2-0 win last year to even the series at 2-2-1.
The Golden Hurricane will conclude the regular season with a three-game road trip. TU will take on UCF on Oct. 22nd, Southern Miss on Oct. 24th and SMU on Oct. 28th. The Knights won the most games for a 2010 Tulsa opponent, with a 17-5-1 overall record last year, captured the C-USA regular season championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. TU dropped a 2-1 decision to then 11th-ranked UCF last season, giving the Knights a 4-0-1 lead in the series. TU netted a 4-0 win over the Golden Eagles last year, giving Tulsa a 4-0 advantage in the series, while the Mustangs tallied their 22nd win in 26 meetings with the Golden Hurricane.
"The conference will be very strong again this season," Cussen said. "Every team will be better than last year. There is a lot of parity in our league, which will make for a great and challenging season."
The Conference USA Championship will take place on Nov. 3rd-7th at the UCF Track and Soccer Complex in Orlando, Florida.
