Home slate key to 2010 success
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Phone (716) 673-3100 / Fax (716) 673-3136
CONTACT: Jerry Reilly,
Sports Information Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's soccer
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Men's soccer head coach P.J. Gondek likes a challenge. That’s why he’ll have his team in Pennsylvania this Friday and Saturday for a pair of non-conference games.
On Friday, the Blue Devils will visit Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, Pa. The 2010 Blue Devils’ season-opener is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. (LIVE STATS/VIDEO via GAME CENTRAL)
The Saturday night game is a rematch with Messiah in Grantham, Pa. The Falcons have won the last two NCAA Division III national titles, and seven in the last 10 years.
“It should be a nice challenge,” Gondek said of meeting the Falcons, who downed the Blue Devils 3-0 last year in Grantham. “We’re better off having played them last year.”
The Falcons are ranked No. 1 in the pre-season poll released by the National College Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Medaille Mavericks – the Blue Devils’ opponent next Wednesday – is No. 25 in the same poll. Game time for the home opener is 7 p.m.
The Blue Devils will follow that key regional game with games against two solid teams from the Cleveland area, Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll, in next weekend’s Clarion Hotel Classic at University Stadium. The Blue Devils play at 7 p.m. next Friday and 5 p.m. next Saturday.
The Blue Devils’ home slate also includes two other non-conference games – Oct. 2 vs. Hobart, Oct. 27 vs. Grove City – plus five SUNYAC games, beginning Sept. 18 vs. Buffalo State at 7 p.m. The other SUNYAC home games: Oct. 15 vs. Potsdam (4 p.m.), Oct. 16 vs. Plattsburgh (1 p.m.), Oct. 22 vs. Brockport (3 p.m.), Oct. 23 vs. Geneseo (1 p.m.).
Conference road games are Sept. 24 at Oneonta, Sept. 25 at New Paltz, Oct. 8 at Cortland, and Oct. 9 at Oswego. Non-conference road games also include Nazareth on Sept. 14 and Westminster on Sept. 28.
“Our conference schedule,” Gondek said, “lines up better than last year, when our last five conference games were on the road. This year our last four are at home. In that sense, this is better because it (playing away from home) definitely meant a lot going the other way (in the standings) last year.”
The Hobart game Oct. 2 is part of Homecoming Weekend, which will include the annual alumni game 11 a. m. at University Stadium. The 1986 Final Four team is also planning a reunion that day. All former players should contact Gondek at (716) 673-3366.