June 11, 2008

<">2008 Printable Women's Soccer Schedule

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Eleven home matches and road trips to perennial powers DePaul and BYU highlight the 2008 Michigan State women's soccer schedule. The Spartans open their 18th season under head coach Tom Saxton Friday, Aug. 22 at Oakland. MSU's home opener is set for Friday, Sept. 5 against Eastern Michigan. Saxton made the schedule announcement Tuesday, June 10.

The Spartans open with three road games, including the season opener at Oakland on Friday, Aug. 22, followed by games at DePaul (5-13-1 in 2007) on Aug. 29 and at Bowling Green Sunday, Aug. 31, MSU has five straight home matches at the brand new DeMartin Soccer Complex at Old College Field. The Eastern Michigan (7-8-4 in 2007) contest starts the two-week homestand, followed by matches against Loyola (14-9-1), Western Michigan (4-11-3), Kent State (7-11-1) and Detroit (4-11-4). Saxton's squad goes from the comforts of home to Provo, Utah, for a contest at BYU (17-4-2) Friday, Sept. 19.

"We're excited to be playing so many early home matches in our new stadium," Saxton said. "We only have one road match in the month of September so that gives us a chance to get the season going at home."

Following its trip to BYU, MSU will play nine consecutive Big Ten matches, five of which come on the road. Michigan State opens Big Ten play at home Friday, Sept. 26 against Minnesota (9-8-2) before Iowa (8-8-4) comes to East Lansing two days later.

"We have a lot of challenges in the non-conference season, but our focus is completely on the Big Ten this season," Saxton said. "I think the schedule sets up nicely for us because we open Big Ten play at home."

The Spartans then travel to Illinois (12-7-2) Friday, Oct. 3 before playing at Purdue Sunday, Oct. 5. Purdue (20-2-3) was one of just three teams in the nation to win 20 matches last season.

The next week, MSU hosts Ohio State (12-10-1) and Penn State (18-4-2), setting the scene for consecutive road conference matches at Northwestern, Wisconsin and Indiana. Michigan State's home contests against South Dakota State (9-4-4) and Michigan (3-9-6) conclude the regular season slate. The top eight teams in the Big Ten standings will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, Nov. 6-9 for the Big Ten Women's Soccer Championship.

Twenty letterwinners and seven starters return from last season's 7-10-2 season.