Women's Soccer Unveils 2017 Slate
7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
2017 Schedule
WASHINGTON â€" The George Washington women's soccer team will host nine opponents in 2017 and face 10 more on the road during a 19-match schedule this fall, sixth-year head coach Sarah Barnes announced on Monday.
The Colonials look to vie for a conference crown, after reaching the Atlantic 10 Championships for the fourth consecutive season, with the help of a strong schedule that features a top-25 opponent and a pair of NCAA Championship qualifiers from a year ago.
"We're excited to announce the 2017 schedule," said head coach Sarah Barnes. "The first half of the season will provide numerous challenges that will help us prepare for a competitive Atlantic 10 schedule. We're playing at Georgetown on opening weekend so we'll learn a lot about ourselves right away. We also host LSU, which we know will be a difficult match up, in our second consecutive year of hosting an SEC team." GW beat Arkansas at home last season.
GW will host Loyola for an exhibition match on Friday, Aug. 11 at 5 p.m. before opening its season at Delaware on Friday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. Two days later, on Aug. 20, the Colonials head to cross-town foe and last year's College Cup Semifinalist Georgetown at 1 p.m.
The Colonials then open their home season on Thursday, Aug. 24 when they take on 2016 Big South Champion Liberty at 5 p.m. GW closes out August by hosting the LSU Tigers for the second time in program history at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31.
The Buff and Blue kick off September on the road with a match against local rival American University on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. before returning to the GW Soccer Field for a two-match homestand against Towson on Thursday, Sept. 7 (5 p.m.) and Saint Francis on Sunday, Sept. 10 (1 p.m.).
The Colonials will visit Delaware State University for a 7 p.m. bout on Thursday, Sept. 14 before wrapping up non-conference action in Harrisburg, Virginia, on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. for a game against James Madison University.
The Colonials open Atlantic 10 Conference play when they travel to Revolutionary Rival George Mason on Thursday, Sept. 21 for a 7 p.m. start. The squad then makes the trip to Rhode Island for a 1 p.m. clash on Sunday, Sept. 24.
"There are no easy games in the Atlantic 10 Conference and we play seven of the eight teams who advanced to the conference tournament last year," said Coach Barnes. "Overall, it's a tough schedule and we look forward to taking advantage of the non-conference games in order to improve for Atlantic 10 play."
The Colonials open A-10 play at home against Fordham on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. The Buff and Blue will also host St. Bonaventure (Oct. 1, 1 p.m.), St. Louis (Oct. 8, 1 p.m.), A-10 runner-up Saint Joseph's (Oct. 12, 3:30 p.m.), and Duquesne (Oct. 22, 1 p.m.), and travel to Richmond (Oct. 5, 7 p.m.), 2016 A-10 Champion Dayton (Oct. 15, 1 p.m.), and Davidson (Oct. 19, 7 p.m.).
The 2017 Atlantic 10 Championships will be held from Thursday, Nov. 3 â€" Sunday, Nov. 5 at VCU's Backers Stadium.