Case views 4 SUNYAC home games as key stretch
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Women's soccer
(2010 SCHEDULE/SUNYAC PREVIEW)FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Following their game Wednesday night vs. Medaille, the Blue Devils embarked on their first road trip of the 2010 season – to Ocean City, Md., to play in the Salisbury University Tournament.
The Blue Devils face the host Sea Gulls at 3 p.m. Friday and meet Johns Hopkins at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both teams are expected to contend for their respective league titles while Johns Hopkins enters the 2010 season ranked No. 6 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III preseason poll.
“It’s a chance,” Blue Devils head coach Chris Case said, “to see what our potential is this year and it allows me a chance to see what we have to work on prior to our conference games.”
The Blue Devils are picked for fifth – tied with Brockport – in the annual preseason poll of conference coaches.
But before SUNYAC competition begins, the Blue Devils – together with the men’s team – will co-host the Clarion Hotel Soccer Classic on Sept. 10 and 11 at University Stadium. The women will meet Baldwin-Wallace and Penn State Behrend, while the men take on Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll. The University of Rochester women and the Buffalo State men will also participate in the two-day event.
SUNYAC play begins Sept. 18 when the Blue Devils travel to Buffalo State. They also have road games at Potsdam (Oct. 15), Plattsburgh (Oct. 16), Brockport (Oct. 22), and Geneseo (Oct. 23).
Case sees the outcome of a four-game stretch of conference home games in late September and early October as the keys to his team’s success in 2010. The Blue Devils will play host to Oneonta (Sept. 24), New Paltz (Sept. 25), Cortland (Oct. 8), and Oswego (Oct. 9).
“It’s important that we do well,” he said, “because it’s never easy to win on the road, and we play our last four conference games on the road. That (the four-game home stretch) will play a critical part as to where we finish in the standings.”
In addition to Medaille and the Clarion Classic, the non-conference home schedule includes St. John Fisher (Sept. 21), Union (Oct. 2), and Rochester Institute of Technology (Oct. 26). The Union game falls on Homecoming weekend and will include an alumni game and a celebration of 25 years of Fredonia State women’s soccer. Former players wishing to participate in the day should contact Coach Case at (716) 673-3279 or by e-mailing him at case@fredonia.edu.