Soccer Announces 2009 Fall Schedule

OXFORD, Miss. A challenging slate of opponents, including nine teams from last year’s NCAA Tournament, will make up the 2009 Ole Miss Soccer schedule that was announced by head coach Steve Holeman on Wednesday.

Out of conference NCAA Tournament squads Memphis, Miami (Fla.) and Morehead State highlight the schedule, along with the traditionally rigorous Southeastern Conference slate. Six league foes advanced to postseason play last year Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee.

“Our staff has put together a very competitive non-league schedule that I think will prepare us for the rigors of SEC play,” Holeman said. “Our girls have worked really hard this offseason and went undefeated in the spring with only 11 field players. We hope to carry some of that momentum into this fall. We are looking forward to the challenges as we work to compete for an SEC West title and return to the NCAA’s.”

Ole Miss will open the 2009 campaign on the road with a trip to Birmingham to face the UAB Blazers on Sunday, Aug. 23.

The Rebels will host the Ole Miss Nike Invitational the following weekend in Oxford, with the season home opener on Friday, Aug. 28, against 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Champion Morehead State at 7 p.m. The Rebels will face Jackson State on Sunday, while Mississippi State will also be in town to play those two squads.

Ole Miss will travel to face a pair of regional rivals with a Sept. 4 date at 2008 Conference USA Champion Memphis and a Sept. 6 contest at Southern Miss before returning home for games against East Tennessee State University (Sept. 11) and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (Sept. 13) the following weekend. Holeman’s squad will close out the non-league slate in the sunshine of south Florida with road tilts at Miami (Sept. 18) and Florida Atlantic University (Sept. 20).

The Rebels’ SEC schedule begins with four straight home matches against Alabama (Sept. 25), Auburn (Sept. 27), South Carolina (Oct. 2) and 2008 “Sweet Sixteen” squad Florida (Oct. 4).

Following the four-game home stand is a five-match road swing with trips to Georgia (Oct. 9), Tennessee (Oct. 11), LSU (Oct. 16), Arkansas (Oct. 18) and Kentucky (Oct. 22). The Rebels will host Vanderbilt at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium on Oct. 25, followed by the regular season finale in Oxford against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Oct. 30.

The 2009 SEC Tournament will once again be held in Orange Beach, Ala., Nov. 4-8. The top eight teams in the conference standings advance to the tournament. Ole Miss is one of only two league teams to make the league tourney in each of the past 12 seasons (Florida).

The 2009 NCAA Tournament begins Nov. 13 at campus sites and concludes with the Women’s College Cup Dec. 4-6 in College Station, Texas.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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