Six NCAA Tournament Teams Highlight 2017 Tulsa Women’s Soccer Slate
6/1/2017 3:43:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Link to Online Schedule
Six NCAA tournament teams from the 2016 season, as well as matches against Oklahoma and Oral Roberts, highlight the 2017 Tulsa women's soccer schedule, as announced today by Head Coach Kyle Cussen. The Golden Hurricane schedule will feature 12 teams that posted double-digit wins and four teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the final NSCAA top-25 poll a year ago.
"It is a very strong non-conference schedule because we want to prepare ourselves for not only the conference slate, but be able to prove to the NCAA Committee that we deserve to be in the Tournament," Head Coach Kyle Cussen said. "Central Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma – I don't know if we could play a tougher schedule to start the season. And then to close out the non-conference slate we face two of our biggest rivals – Oral Roberts and Missouri State, which are always big-battle games. We couldn't have put together a better non-conference schedule."
"The conference slate will be tough again this year, as there isn't a bad team in our league," Cussen added. "Every team will be fighting to make the conference tournament. Last year we were fourth heading into the final weekend and finished seventh in the league, which shows every game matters and every game will be extremely tough."
The six NCAA tournament participants on the schedule include Kansas, Memphis, Nebraska, Oklahoma, SMU and UConn, while UConn concluded the year ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA poll, and Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma all received votes.
TU finished the 2016 season with an 8-10-1 overall record and a 4-5 mark for a seventh-place finish in American Athletic Conference play. Tulsa tallied 34 goals from 11 different student-athletes and earned shutouts over Oral Roberts and Cincinnati.
Tulsa will begin the season with a tournament in Lawrence, Kan., and will take on Central Michigan (Aug. 18) and Nebraska (Aug. 20). This will be the first meeting with the Chippewas, which recorded 15 wins last season, while the Huskers earned 11 wins and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Championship a year ago. Nebraska has won both previous meetings with the Hurricane, but the two teams have not met on the soccer pitch since 1999.
TU will host Kansas in the home opener on Friday, August 25 at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium. The Jayhawks finished with 12 wins, including five victories in the Big 12 for a second-place mark, and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Championship last year. Tulsa has a 3-1 lead in the all-time series, but it was KU that earned a 3-0 win in the last meeting during the 2002 campaign.
On August 27, the Hurricane will travel to Norman, Okla., to face intrastate rival Oklahoma. The Sooners, which earned a 3-2 overtime win over the Hurricane a year ago, advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Championship last season and totaled 14 wins in 2016.
TU returns home to host Utah Valley (Sept. 1) and James Madison (Sept. 3), before traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to play Ole Miss (Sept. 8) and Rice (Sept. 10) in the Tiger Invitational. The Wolverines earned 10 wins last season, while the Dukes picked up nine victories. UVU earned a win over Tulsa in the only previous meeting during the 2006 season, while TU has a win over JMU during the 1993 campaign.
The Rebels earned nine wins last season, including a 2-1 win over Tulsa to take a 1-0 lead in the series, while one of the Owls' 11 victories last year included a 3-2 win over Tulsa. Rice has a 9-5 lead in the all-time series.
The Hurricane will face cross-town rival Oral Roberts (Sept. 15) on the ORU campus, before closing out the non-conference slate at Missouri State (Sept. 17). The Golden Eagles tallied 11 wins last season, but it was the Golden Hurricane that recorded a 3-0 win to take an 18-4-5 lead in the all-time series a year ago. Last year, TU captured a 3-1 win over the Bears, which only had five wins in 2016, for a 12-5-2 advantage in the series.
Tulsa opens American Athletic Conference play at home against Houston (Sept. 21) and SMU (Sept. 24). The Mustangs had 13 wins, finished third in The American and played in the First Round of the NCAA Championship a year ago, while the Cougars, which dropped a 4-1 decision to Tulsa last season, earned six wins.
A trip to Florida to face UCF (Sept. 28) and USF (Oct. 1) is up next on the Tulsa slate. The Knights had nine wins, while the Bulls recorded 12 wins last year.
UConn, which won both The American regular season and tournament championships last season, comes to town on Oct. 5. The Huskies advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Championship, finished the year ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA poll and earned 19 wins a year ago. Temple, which won just three games last season, will make the trip to Tulsa for a game on Oct. 8.
The Hurricane will travel to Cincinnati (Oct. 12) and East Carolina (Oct. 15) before closing out the regular season with a home contest against Memphis (Oct. 27). The Tigers amassed 14 wins, finished second in The American and advanced to the First Round of the NCAA Championship, while the Bearcats registered 11 wins last season, and the Pirates had five victories.
Thursday, September 05
Monday, September 02
Sunday, September 01
Sunday, August 25